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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



THE METHOD 



OF 



THE RECITATION 



BY 



CHARLES A. McMURRY, Ph.D. 

DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE DEPARTMENT, NORTHERN ILUNOIS 
NORMAL SCHOOL, DE KALB, ILLINOIS 

AND 

FRANK M. McMURRY, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING, TEACHERS 
COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



^^ 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1903 

All rights reserved 



r 



THt LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

FEB 9 1903 

M Copyrighl Entry 
CLASS ^ XXc. No 
COPY B. » 






Copyright, 1897, 
By C. a. McMURRY and F. M. McMURRY. 

Copyright, 1903, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped January, 1903. 






NorJnoolr ^rega 

J. 8. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 

Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



Bctiicateti t0 
JOHN W. COOK 

PRESIDENT OF THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL SCHOOL 
DE KALB, ILLINOIS 



PREFACE 

The Method of the Recitation has sprung out of 
school-room work, and is designed to be a practical 
application of the principles of method to the various 
problems of class-room instruction. It is an effort to 
bring together and to organize the various principles 
that control skilful teaching. 

It is based fundamentally upon the inductive- 
deductive thought movement in acquiring and using 
knowledge. 

This organized plan of laying out recitation work 
was first projected by the thinkers of the Herbart 
school in Germany. For more than thirty years 
they have been developing and applying it under the 
title " The Formal Steps of Instruction " (Die forma- 
len Stufen des Unterrichts). Formerly Dr. T. Ziller 
at Leipzig was a leader in the movement, and more 
recently Dr. W. Rein at Jena. They worked out 
their theory and applied it with proficiency to a large 
variety of topics in different studies, thus showing 
the flexibility of leading principles under various 
forms of application. 

vii 



Viii PREFACE 

The Method of the Recitation is based upon the 
principles of teaching which were expounded and 
illustrated in the work of Herbart, Ziller, and Rein. 
At the same time, the authors hope to have shown 
in the body of the work that we have to do here with 
principles recognized by teachers in every land, and 
that there is no thoughtless imitation of foreign 
methods and devices. While our debt to German 
thinkers for an organization of fundamental ideas is 
great, the entire discussion, as here presented, springs 
out of American conditions ; its illustrative materials 
are drawn exclusively from lessons commonly taught 
in our schools. In fact, the whole book, while 
strongly influenced by Herbart's principles, is the 
outgrowth of several years' continuous work with 
classes of children in all the grades of the common 
school. 

The Method of the Recitation may be regarded as 
Part II of the broad subject of Method of which the 
** General Method," published earlier, is Part I. The 
latter book is a discussion of the leading principles 
of education as they bear on the school curriculum, 
and is designed to be preliminary to the definite 
treatment of recitation work. 

The final test of the value of any such effort to 
organize the recitation must be found in the worth 
of the actual lessons worked out in accordance with 



PREFACE IX 

its principles. Two chapters, II and XI, are given 
up to such typical lessons. Each topic or lesson 
unity treated requires several or even many recita- 
tion periods for its completion. 

The authors have divided the work nearly equally 
between them. Chapters I, II, except the illustration 
" In unity is strength," Chapters IX, X, XI, and 
XIII, except the parable of the tares, being written 
by C. A. McMurry. Chapters III, IV, V, VI, VII, 
and VIII, Chapters XII and XIV by F. M. McMurry. 

The present edition has been completely revised 
and supplied with marginal topics for better use as 
a text-book. Considerable additions have been made 
to the original edition and some changes made in the 
division and arrangement of chapters. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

t. Variety versus Uniformity in Methods of 

Instruction i 

II. Illustrative Lessons showing the Processes 

of reaching General Truths . . .13 

III. How Individual and General Notions are 

distinguished from Each Other ... 42 

IV. Why General Notions or Concepts are the 

Goal of Instruction 51 

V. Do Generalizations precede or follow Indi- 
vidual Notions ? 64 

VI. How Individual Notions should be ap- 
proached 74 

VII. How Individual Notions should be presented 118 
VIII. How proceed from Individual to General 

Notions 185 

IX. How should General Notions be applied? . 207 

X. The Value of Types 236 

XI. Illustrative Lessons 257 

XII. Laws underlying Processes in Teaching . 288 

XIII. Applications and Criticisms .... 297 

XIV. Lesson Plans 329 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



CHAPTER I 

VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY IN METHODS OF 

INSTRUCTION 

■ 

There has been a long-standing dispute among 
teachers whether or not the processes of instruction 
must conform to any fixed and uniform regulatives. 
Among scholars, and even among teachers, many 
have been sceptical of anything like a definite science 
of education. 

At the first glance, the broad field of education Reasons for 
presents a medley, — many and varied studies, chil- toward a"™ 
dren of all ages and capacities, and teachers of science of 

education. 

nearly every quality and description. There are 
many sorts of schools, and great diversity of purpose 
and method even in schools of the same kind. In 
high schools, for example, there are general and 
business courses, classical and scientific courses, but 
teachers are at variance as to the best methods of in- 
struction even in the classical course, to say nothing 
of the different standpoints of teachers of classics 
and of natural science. What is still more discourag- 
ing, the very sciences upon which pedagogy claims 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Universal 
principles of 
method the 
basis of a 
science of 
education. 



to be based, psychology and ethics, lie as much in 
the field of controversy as pedagogy itself. In the 
midst of this endless variety and fluctuation in the 
theory and practice of teaching, it is not strange that 
many educated people, even teachers, take a scepti- 
cal attitude toward scientific method, and regard each 
person as a law unto himself. 

This tendency to discredit a science of education is 
indicated by our use of the term method. There is 
scarcely a more common word in the teaching pro- 
fession, and it is frequently employed in the plural 
form, a practical admission not of one and only one 
right method, but that their number is legion. Also 
some of the most common watchwords of our pro- 
fession point in the same direction, "Freedom and 
originality," " The teacher is born, not made," " Make 
your own method." 

Our pedagogy seems to have fallen into a condi- 
tion similar to that in which philosophy found itself 
in the time of the Sophists. Each man's judgment 
was counted as good as another's. Each man was 
the measure of all things, and though two men dif- 
fered radically, both might be right in their judg- 
ments. The Sophists were sceptical of any universal 
standard of truth. 

But Socrates, who followed the Sophists, sought in 
the individual's thinking, when properly guided, a 
universal principle of truth, so that all men when 
they think logically and soundly must agree. He 



VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY 3 

was in search of a uniform mode of thinking which 
would have universal validity. Pedagogy likewise is 
in search of universal principles of method in learn- 
ing, based not upon the subjective whim of the 
teacher, but upon the common law of mental action 
which is universal with children and students, in fact 
with all human beings. And the extent to which 
suctt universal principles of method are discovered, 
determines the extent to which there is a science of 
education. 

The question is this : Is there any essential, natural 
process upon which a uniform method of treating the 
varied school subjects can be based .-^ As already 
said, to outward appearance there seems to be no 
such process; there seem to be no principles that 
may serve as a guide for all persons in teaching all 
subjects. But we should not be discouraged by ap- 
pearances. The fact that even good teachers show 
an infinite variety of individual and personal traits, 
and that studies differ greatly in subject-matter, is no 
proof that there is not a common mode of procedure 
for instruction. We remember that everywhere in 
nature and in society is variety and apparent con- 
fusion; fundamental laws do not stand out so as to 
be easily detected by careless observers. They lie 
deep and must be searched out by patient examina- 
tion and labor. In the study of trees and flowers no 
scientist is deceived by the multiplicity and variety 
of forms. It is the habit of his mind to reduce all 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Economy of 

such 

principles. 



varieties to common structural forms and simple 
classes. 

Hence, while there is a large element in teaching 
that is always variable, according to the branch of 
study and the differing personality of teacher or 
pupils, may there not be essential uniformity ; some 
great underlying principles of method ? 

Could these principles be discovered, no one would 
deny their value ; we are not so enamoured of indi- 
vidual freedom as to refuse submission to rational, 
regulated processes. 

Definite and valuable principles of action, while 
they check one's freedom along foolish lines, guide 
effort into the channels of efficiency. Too much free- 
dom becomes positively oppressive. Whether travel- 
ling over a continent or through a field of thought, 
erecting a mansion, or developing a high moral char- 
acter, whoever would keep his bearings and work 
forward to an important end, must have a guide. 
Whether it be a compass, a model, or an ideal, he 
must look to it continually for direction. Any one 
engaged in a work so important and difficult as teach- 
ing is much in need of fixed principles which outline 
for him the ideal of method. If convinced that no 
one method is right, that no ideal can be set up, he 
is like a sea captain who is persuaded that whatever 
course he may choose for his vessel is at least possi- 
bly good. He acknowledges the possession of no 
standard of excellence, and sees chiefly fog in his 



VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY 5 

chosen course. He is subject, therefore, to half- 
hearted action, for energy and encouragement are 
not born of uncertainty and confusion. 

No one, therefore, will object to a search for the 
unity that may underlie the variety of good methods 
in teaching. 

Our text-books supply us with a definite formula- The uniform- 
tion Of methods of teaching. They are generally Sntext-books. 
constructed out of the experience of the better teach- 
ers and in conformity with those traditional ideas and 
practices which are common to the great body of in- 
structors. The examination and comparison of our 
most widely used text-books in grammar, arithmetic, 
history, geography, reading, etc., will show a uniform- 
ity in at least one very important respect. 

It may be said that our text-books in English gram- 
mar are built on a single plan. As surely as an ordi- 
nary dwelling has parlor, sitting room, and kitchen, 
so grammar has orthography, etymology, and syntax. 
This is one kind of uniformity ; namely, that of lead- 
ing topics in the subject-matter. But, what is more 
to our purpose, the general truths contained in these 
materials are singled out as the central aim of study. 
In grammar everything culminates in the definitions 
and rules, whose complete mastery gives us the scien- 
tific grasp of the structure and meaning of language. 
In most books even the method of reaching the rules 
and definitions is stereotyped. Definitions, examples, 
and applications constitute the regular order in the 



6 METHOD OF RECITATION 

treatment of every topic. Green's grammar is an 
illustration. Some of the more recent books have 
modified the order of topics and have adopted an in- 
ductive method of treatment ; but under all changes 
the definitions and principles expressing the functions 
of the parts of speech and the syntactical relations 
of the elements of the sentence have remained the 
central aim of instruction. 

An examination of a score of the best arithmetics 
in use will show a striking uniformity in the series of 
important topics treated. The following series is 
very famihar : the four fundamental operations, fac- 
toring, common fractions, decimals, compound num- 
bers, percentage, ratio, proportion, involution, and 
evolution. But this external uniformity of subject- 
matter is only a sign of that deeper-lying uniformity 
which aims at the development and use of funda- 
mental principles. The elementary general truths of 
arithmetic lie at the basis of all the important topics 
handled. The solution, analysis, and explanation of 
problems are simply means for bringing the impor- 
tant principles clearly to light. When the principles 
can be explicitly stated and intelligently applied, the 
essential aim of arithmetic has been reached. In 
most books even the method of procedure in mas- 
tering the rule is the same, first one or two simple 
problems worked out and explained, then the rule, 
followed by a series of applications growing more 
complex and difficult. 



VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY 7 

In algebra and geometry the essential principles 
which constitute the framework of these studies are 
still more strikingly prominent as the aim of study. 
While the methods of approach to principles vary 
somewhat, the definitions, theorems, and proposi- 
tions, when finally reached, are formulated in nearly 
the same language. 

In 'mathematics, therefore, as in grammar, instruc- 
tion centres in the principles to be understood and 
applied. All variations in method, whether induc- 
tive or deductive, are different modes of presenting 
these generalizations. 

A comparative study of the leading common- 
school geographies will show a similar agreement 
in aim. No study is richer in the abundance and 
variety of concrete material than geography, but 
the books follow a strong traditional tendency and 
are really modelled on a single plan. Not only the 
outline of leading topics is the same, such as mathe- 
matical geography, physical features of the continents, 
the political divisions and populations, the chief occu- 
pations, as agriculture, commerce, mining, and manu- 
facturing, but in these topics the chief purpose is to 
give a distinct emphasis to the general truths which 
underlie all the variety of geographical detail. 

Some of these truths, for example, are the follow- 
ing : soil comes from rock ; slopes are necessary for 
drainage, and drainage for farming; mountains 
greatly influence temperature and rainfall; the 



8 METHOD OF RECITATION 

roads of a country are an index of its civiliza- 
tion ; great cities owe their growth largely to the 
advantages of their location for transportation ; coal 
and iron ore are the two most important mineral prod- 
ucts ; climate and occupation greatly affect the char- 
acter of a people. The location of points, the fixing 
of boundaries, etc., are of use, to be sure, but interest 
in geography centres primarily in such truths as these. 

In history every important event is typical or repre- 
sentative in character, setting forth a truth common 
to many other events, or reappearing in the lives of 
many persons. In Hamilton's life and thinking as a 
statesman the notion of a strong central power of 
government was potent. This idea appears, also, in 
other statesmen, as in Webster, Washington, and 
Lincoln, and has gradually become an idea common 
to all patriotic Americans. The building of the old 
national road was a particular event, but it illustrated 
the principle of the right of the federal government 
under the constitution to make internal improve- 
ments. So every event in history, that is worth 
learning, helps point the way to a more general 
truth. History, therefore, has a large number of 
general truths in store, and it is the deeper, broader 
meaning of these general ideas which we seek, through 
particular events, to disclose. 

This statement may be accepted without commit- 
ting one's self in favor of a philosophy of history, such 
as that presented in Hegel's noted work bearing that 



VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY 9 

title. One may properly believe that sufficient data 
for the broadest, deepest truths concerning human 
progress are wanting, so that history cannot reveal 
such truths, even to advanced students ; but one may 
still feel convinced that it is the purpose of history 
to present general truths of a lower order, as those 
just suggested. 

Beginning reading is a study in which the mastery 
and use of arbitrary symbols play a very important 
part; yet there is a small nucleus of generaliza- 
tion upon which the study is organized. In good 
reading final consonants are enunciated with distinct- 
ness; soft tones are heard; and the voice is modu- 
lated in accordance with the thoughts expressed. It 
is such abstract statements as these that the learner 
must comprehend and apply before he can read well. 

Finally, even spelling contains its rules. But 
these, you say, are partly useless because of their 
numerous exceptions. True ; and that is one of the 
reasons why spelling fails to receive the respect ac- 
corded to other studies. Its want of reliable rules 
deprives it of scientific content, and it is regarded by 
many persons as an evil, though a very necessary 
one. It is not a full study. 

In these various studies, therefore, we find the ten- 
dency predominant to concentrate effort upon the 
mastery of essential general truths. What is the 
reason for such uniformity } Is it simply blind cus- 
tom, or have we been working out, consciously or 



lO METHOD OF RECITATION 

unconsciously, a fundamental principle in education ? 
Is it not the latter ? Whether conscious of it or not, 
text-book makers have been laboring for the nearest 
approach to a scientific statement and arrangement 
of general truths that each of the studies would per- 
mit. And while there has been much glib talk about 
freedom and originality in teaching, the text-books 
have held the great majority of teachers in a well- 
defined routine ; have led them to do practically the 
. same things, and in essentially the same way. 

The striking similarity that marks each large class 
of text-books is one of the most noticeable character- 
istics of our education, and is in clear contrast to that 
variety of methods discussed at the beginning of this 
chapter. Education gravitates into these channels of 
generalized knowledge as surely as rivers work their 
way through the lowlands. Even in a democratic 
country where each community is free to adopt its 
own system and method of education, where no hie- 
rarchy of learned men in any way officially directs the 
educational policy, we see an almost universal ten- 
dency toward uniformity, based upon the broad sci- 
entific principles of any study. 
General If now we find that the ground for this uniformity 

starting-point ^^ really a scientific idea, not only widely recognized, 
method'^or'' but valid in psychology, we may fix a starting-point 
instruction, for a sound pedagogy, ^he mastery of the general 
truths of a study must remain the direct purpose of 
instruction in each branch of knowledge. These 



VARIETY VERSUS UNIFORMITY II 

truths are what are known in psychology as general 
notions or concepts. They are the centres around 
which the knowledge of any subject is grouped and 
classified. It is the mastery of these rules and prin- 
ciples, and the ability to apply them, that are con- 
stantly aimed at in all the best school work. From 
an examination of the psychologies we detect that 
the treatment of the precept and the concept (the 
particular and the general notion) furnishes two lead- 
ing chapters of mental science. The process of learn- 
ing as explained by all the psychologies culminates 
in the general notion or concept. Psychology sup- 
plies, therefore, a strong support to our conclusion 
as to the basis of scientific method. 

It would not be difficult to show that all the higher 
studies, as history, science, language, medicine, law, 
etc., become organized under general notions or prin- 
ciples ; in fact, the definition of science is " general- 
ized, classified knowledge." 

In the history of philosophy also the general no- 
tion plays a role not less important than in these 
other subjects. From the days of Socrates and Plato 
on, inductive and deductive reasoning have set the 
general notion as the centre of all thinking — as the 
thing aimed at in induction, and as the basis of all 
true deduction. When Herbert Spencer, therefore, 
calls his most fundamental book " First Principles," 
he has in mind those general truths which lie at the 
basis of his entire system of thought. 



12 METHOD OF RECITATION 

In conclusion, we find that the general notion is a 
pivotal centre of discussion not only in elementary 
and higher studies of all sorts, but also in the great 
fields of psychology and philosophy. 

It is not claimed that the method by which general 
notions have been worked out in our text-books is 
uniformly correct and valid. This is a question that 
we are not called upon to settle at this point. Whether 
or not an inductive or deductive approach to general 
truths is the correct one, we can leave for further 
consideration. But one leading aim of instruction in 
every important study is a mastery, in the full sense, 
of its general truths. Without this basis no method 
of instruction has any validity. It may be that the 
method by which this aim can be best realized has 
been so thoroughly misinterpreted and misapplied 
that we have approached a uniformity of error in our 
methods of teaching. It may be that definitions and 
abstract formulae have been set too much in the fore- 
front of every lesson, and also that systematically 
formulated knowledge has been forced prematurely 
into lower grades, y- Yet it is a great step in the right 
direction to have fixed clearly the aim of instruction, 
to have determined the goal toward which all proper 
mental movement tends. Assuming that our con- 
clusions thus far are justified, we may move on to a 
discussion of the essential steps in a correct method 
of instruction. 



CHAPTER II 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS SHOWING THE PROCESSES OF 
REACHING GENERAL TRUTHS 

In the first chapter, having located the goal of in- 
struction in general notions and in their proper use, 
the question, how to reach them, now becomes para- 
mount. In the present chapter a number of lessons 
is worked out to illustrate the different processes in 
vogue for mastering general truths. In each exam- 
ple two different methods are presented : first, that 
common to many of our text-books and to the usual 
practice of teachers ; and second, the fuller inductive 
and developing method now followed in some schools. 

The purpose of this chapter is not only to show 
the two ways of reaching a comprehension of such 
truths, but also to suggest other important phases of 
recitation work. In the discussions of recitation 
method which follow, these lessons may be kept in 
mind as illustrating the principles under treatment. 

The lessons are taken from different studies, — 
arithmetic, geography, literature, natural science, and 
history. They recognize generalizations as the goal 
of instruction, but leave open the question as to 

13 



14 METHOD OF RECITATION 

whether or not any further principles of method 
may be found in the treatment of these various 
materials. 

The Addition of Fractions 

In first learning to add fractions, one method of the 
arithmetics is fairly illustrated by the following : — 
What is the sum of 2%, Jf , and \% ? 

Prnrpqc; • 9_ i 16 i 10 _ 9+1 6 + 10 _ 15 _ jH 
rrOCebS . 23^23 ^23~~ 23 ~"23~"^2 3* 

What is the sum of ||, |f, ^|^, and j5^ ? 
What is the sum of |, j^, and ^ ? 

Since unlike fractional 
units cannot be added, re- 
duce the fractions f , -^^^ and 
^J, to a common denomi- 
nator and then add the 
resulting fractions. 
After ten or a dozen problems the following rule 
is given : — 

" To add fractions, reduce the fractions to a com- 
mon denominator, add the numerators of the new 
fractions, and under the sum write the common 
denominator." 

The following more detailed process is suggested 
for consideration : — 

How shall we add fractions whose denominators 
are unlike ? 

What fractions have you already learned to add .? 
Try these, \ and f . f and f . ^ and if. Can you 



Process : 

^^ 12 ^ 16 • 
30i28_|_33_91_ t4 3 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 1 5 

add ^ and ^ ? What change is necessary before add- 
ing them ? Why not add them in the same way as 
the others? How can you add one bushel and one 
peck ? Change the bushel to pecks. Add two yards 
and one foot. What change was necessary in both 
examples ? 

Add J and f ^=f. |-f| = |. Illustrate this 
with a square divided into fourths and eighths. Add 
•| and ■^^. Add ^ and J. What was done in all these 
cases before adding .-* How shall we add ^ and ^ ? 
How can you change the two fractions so that they 
will be alike, that is, have the same fractional unit? 
Change them to twelfths. One-third equals how 
many twelfths ? One-fourth equals how many 
twelfths ? J + ^ = X% 4- -^^ = 1^2 • Illustrate this with a 
sheet of paper folded into thirds, fourths, and twelfths. 

Add I and J. What is the common fractional unit ? 

Tt iq -1- 2 I 1 _ _4_ _i_ __5_ _ _9_ 
At i& 10* 5 ^ 2 ~" 10 ' 10 ~~ 10- 

3 pnH _3_ — ? 3 I _3_ _ r5 -i_ -5_ — 21 — jJL 
^dna^Q — . i^-rio~20^20~20~^2 0- 

Notice, now, what was done in each of these prob- 
lems : J + :|, 1 + 2, and ^ -h yo- ^^^ fractions in the 
first were changed to twelfths, in the second to tenths, 
and in the third to twentieths. Was the value of the 
fractions changed ? But in each example the frac- 
tions were changed to a common fractional unit, or a 
common denominator. What was done to the numer- 
ators ? In each fraction they were changed to cor- 
respond with the change in the denominator. Then, 
in adding, the numerators were added. 



l6 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Make a rule for adding fractions that will cover all 
the cases so far worked : — 

"To add these fractions, change the fractions to 
equivalent fractions having a common denominator. 
Add the numerators for a new numerator and use 
the common denominator for the new denominator." 

To acquire skill and accuracy in this kind of addi- 
tion : — 

1. Add oral problems as follows : — 

1 4_ 1 7 I 3 _9_ I 5. 4 4. JL 
"Sr + "J- 8^¥' 12^8- 5^12- 

2. For written work add such as these : — 

T"g'^2T+3— • 10^1^^20 • 

3. Add mixed numbers as follows : — 

Trade Centre in the Northwest — Minneapolis as a Type 

This topic may be treated in two ways, briefly, as 
in the geographies, or in a fuller inductive manner. 
One of our grammar school geographies says : — 

" Minneapolis, which adjoins St. Paul, so that the 
two are called the *Twin Cities,' manufactures more 
flour than any other city in the world, its capacity 
being 40,000 barrels a day. The two cities have had 
a remarkably rapid growth." 

Tilden's "Commercial Geography," which is very 
much fuller on this topic than the regular geogra- 
phies, says : — 

"Minneapohs, on the Mississippi at the Falls of 
St. Anthony, is the greatest flour-milUng city in the 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 1 7 

world, and one of the greatest lumber markets and 
lumber-manufacturing centres in America, The 
yearly output of the flour mills is nearly 10,000,000 
barrels. Of this about one-third is shipped to foreign 
countries, constituting about one-fourth of the total 
flour export of the United States. In manufactur- 
ing this flour the Minneapolis mills grind about 
45,000,000 bushels of wheat annually. The Pills- 
bury ' A ' mill is the largest flour mill in the world, 
having a daily capacity of 7500 barrels. The saw 
and planing mills of Minneapolis have an annual 
output of the value of ;^ 10,000,000, and the lumber 
is manufactured into barrels, boxes, cars, wagons, and 
many other products, aggregating a value twice as 
great. In the decade 1 880-1 890 the population of 
Minneapolis increased nearly fourfold." 

The following is a much fuller treatment of Min- 
neapolis in its important relations to the Northwest, 
such as would require several recitations : — 

We will inquire into the causes which make Min- MinneapoUs. 
neapolis an important city. 

Where is it and what have you heard about it.^ 
Why is it sometimes called the flour city ? What is 
meant by the "Twin Cities".? Recall Hennepin's 
trip on the upper Mississippi and what you know of 
the Falls of St. Anthony. Can you tell something of 
the wheat fields and pineries of Minnesota } 

St. Paul was an important trading-point and the 
capital of the state before Minneapolis had a begin- 



1 8 METHOD OF RECITATION 

ning. Why should Minneapolis spring up only ten 
miles away and soon become larger even than St. 
Paul ? The great water-power of the Falls is the first 
answer. How can water from a river be used to run 
a mill ? Where have you seen a mill run by water- 
power? Describe the water-wheel, the dam, and 
mill-race. At Minneapolis the water is carried by a 
channel on the west side of the falls under the great 
mills where it drops forty feet to the large turbine 
wheels at the bottom, turning them and with them all 
the machinery of the mills. 
Lumber. Aloug the Upper Mississippi and its branches in 

northern Minnesota are large pine forests. How 
could the pine logs be brought to the sawmills at 
Minneapolis.? Some of the early settlers moved 
northward into the pineries, cut down the trees in 
winter and sent them floating down the streams to 
the sawmills at Minneapolis. Soon large lumber 
companies were formed with big sawmills at the 
Falls, and owning extensive pine lands in the North. 
In the winter time they sent scores of men to the log- 
ging camps to get out the logs and float them down 
in springtime to the mills. With the mills at Min- 
neapolis came the families of the mill companies and 
of the workmen, and thus a flourishing town sprang 
up at the Falls. Great lumber yards with their stacks 
of boards stretched along the river. 

Some of this lumber would be used in building 
up Minneapolis, but where would most of it be sent ? 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS I9 

The farmers were rapidly settling up the prairie 
regions of the Northwest. Locate these prairies on 
the map. In what directions from Minneapolis would 
most of the lumber be sent ? For two or three hun- 
dred miles to the west, southwest, and northwest from 
Minneapolis the whole prairie land was rapidly taken 
by settlers. How could this lumber be gotten best 
to the new farms and villages ? At first wagons were 
used, but soon railroads were built across the prairies, 
from St. Paul and Minneapolis, and car-loads of lum- 
ber were sent out to the towns and distributed by 
merchants to the farmers. As the lumber business 
grew the whole upper Mississippi with its tributaries 
became a network of streams and logging camps, 
collecting logs for the mills at MinneapoHs. Closely 
connected with the sawmills were the planing mills 
for preparing dressed lumber, sash, doors, moulding, 
etc. Factories were also built for the manufacture 
of furniture, barrels, wagons, and agricultural imple- 
ments. All these products were distributed by the 
railroads over the broad prairie regions of southern 
and western Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Ne- 
braska. In short, Minneapolis, by reason of its favor- 
able position on the river and its water-power, soon 
became the chief centre of the lumber business of the 
Northwest, collecting logs from the pine lands of the 
North, working them up into lumber, furniture, etc., 
and distributing them to the broad area of prairie states. 
How would the prairie farmer pay for the lumber 



20 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Wheat and and Other goods coming from St. Paul and Minne- 
^°'''^' apolis ? What is the leading crop of the Northwest ? 

It was soon found that the prairies were well adapted 
to the growth of wheat and other small grains. In a 
few years the prairies, with the rich valley of the Red 
River of the North, became one of the largest wheat- 
producing districts in the world. How would the 
farmers get their wheat and other grains to Minne- 
apolis } The water-power at the Falls was soon found 
to be more valuable for flour mills than for sawmills. 
In the lumber mills the sawdust suppHed abundance 
of fuel for the furnaces, so that they did not need the 
water-power, and hence the latter was used for run- 
ning the great flour mills that were now built at the 
Falls. The same railroads which distributed lumber 
to the prairies collected the wheat. In 1871 only 
two car-loads of wheat were received in Minneapo- 
lis. In 1887 the Great Western road alone brought 
33,000,000 bushels of wheat to the elevators at Min- 
neapolis. In 1896 250,000 barrels of flour were 
ground here in a single week. In what directions 
would this immense quantity of flour be shipped and 
marketed ? What lake ports would receive much of 
it for shipment by water ? Notice on a railroad map 
the important railroad lines from the Twin Cities to 
Duluth, Milwaukee, and especially to Chicago. Much 
of this flour is shipped to Illinois, Ohio, etc., much to 
Pennsylvania, New York, and New England, and 
whole cargoes to Liverpool and Hamburg. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 21 

Minneapolis has become a centre for the collec- 
tion of enormous quantities of wheat from the wheat 
regions of the Northwest, for its manufacture into 
flour, and for its distribution by railways and water- 
ways to the large populations of the Middle and 
Eastern states and to Europe. The flour business, 
like lumbering, has brought a large population and 
increase of business to Minneapolis. 

There is still a third line of business in Minne- Wholesale 
apolis as important as the two already mentioned. 
What goods from the Eastern states are shipped 
into the two cities for sale and distribution over 
the Northwest .-* Dry-goods, wholesale groceries, ma- 
chinery, drugs, china and porcelain, glass, hardware, 
tools and instruments, books and paper, and hun- 
dreds of other products of Eastern factories and mills, 
as well as those from Europe, are shipped to the 
Twin Cities to be distributed over the Northwest. 
Sum up, in a single statement, the three important 
lines of traffic which have given Minneapolis its 
importance as a trade centre. 

Passing down the Mississippi in a steamboat from Similar cities 
St. Paul, we notice at Wabasha, Winona, and La theriver.°^" 
Crosse, at Dubuque, Davenport, and Rock Island, 
great sawmills and lumber yards even as far as St. 
Louis. An inquiry into the causes will show that the 
St. Croix, the Chippewa, and the Black rivers are 
lumber streams, bringing from the pineries of Wis- 
consin great numbers of log rafts to the mills of all 



22 METHOD OF RECITATION 

these cities. The railroads extending westward into 
Iowa, Minnesota, and other states carry the lumber 
from these river cities to the prairies. Large flour 
mills are also found at most of these cities where 
wheat is received from the regions of the West, is 
milled and sent eastward as flour. 

Compare now these cities along the upper Mis- 
sissippi from Minneapolis to St. Louis ; note how they 
differ in size, location, and importance. Note also 
whether they are alike. Compare them as (i) to 
having sawmills, and as to where the logs come from. 
(2) Compare them as to the manufacture of flour 
and the sources of the wheat. (3) Compare them as 
centres for the wholesale trade in goods manufac- 
tured in the East, and (4) as to advantages for river 
trade north and south, and railroad traffic east and 
west. 

As a result of this comparison sum up the char- 
acter of all the cities of the upper Mississippi as 
trade centres. Like Minneapolis, they are all centres 
for the lumber business, receiving logs from the 
pineries, working them up into lumber, and distribut- 
ing them to the prairies. They collect wheat from 
the West, mill it, and distribute it to the East. They 
are also centres for the wholesale trade in manufac- 
tured goods. In short, the whole upper Mississippi 
River, with its cities, forms one great link of com- 
munication between the pineries of the North and 
the prairies of the West, and also, by means of rail- 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 23 

roads and lakes, between the populations of the East 
and of the Northwest. Minneapolis is the chief 
representative and type of this whole series of cities 
on the upper Mississippi River. 

But let us inquire if there are other important other manu- 
centres of the lumber trade besides the cities of the trade^centres. 
Mississippi. Locate such cities on the Great Lakes 
as Chicago, Milwaukee, Saginaw, Detroit, Buffalo, 
Cleveland. Show where they get lumber and in 
what directions it is sold and delivered. The Great 
Lakes are found to be in the midst of extensive 
pineries, while the cities mentioned are the trading- 
points for collecting and distributing lumber south- 
ward to the large populations of the Middle states. 
What advantages has the city of Albany, N.Y., for 
the lumber trade ? Canals connect the upper Hud- 
son at Albany with Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, 
and Lake Erie. What advantages do these canals 
offer for the lumber trade .'' What cities of Maine 
and New Brunswick are noted for lumbering.'' 
Where do they get the logs, and how and whither 
is the lumber distributed ? What other cities of the 
United States are important for trade in wheat and 
flour.? What other cities of the United States are 
located, like St. Paul and Minneapolis, at the head 
of steamboat navigation on important rivers.? Are 
any of them noted for their water-power.? What 
raw products are collected at Pittsburg ? What are 
its factories.? Compare Pittsburg and Allegheny 



24 METHOD OF RECITATION 

with St. Paul and Minneapolis, in advantage of 
location, as trade centres for great staple products, 
in manufactures, and in population. 

In future geographical study the city of Minne- 
apolis and the group of cities on the upper Missis- 
sippi, of which it is the special type, may serve as a 
standard of comparison in measuring the commercial 
importance of other large trade centres. 

Wisdom better than Gold 

In bringing moral and religious ideas to the at-, 
tention of children, many teachers begin with some 
general statement or proverb which serves as a text 
for the lesson. If the teacher's purpose is to bring 
out the idea of a selfish love of money and its evil 
effects, such a proverb as "How much better it is 
to get wisdom than gold," or ** The love of money 
is the root of all evil," is selected. Remarks are 
made upon the truth of the proverb, and simple illus- 
trations of the evil effects of the excessive desire for 
money are presented. According to the same 
method we have a number of books designed for 
moral instruction, which contain short treatises or 
sermons on points of moral conduct. These are 
read to the school, commented upon, and perhaps 
further but briefly illustrated. This plan seems to 
many persons a short and easy way of presenting 
moral truths to children. 

Quite a different process of getting at a moral 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 2$ 

truth is illustrated by the use of the story of the 
Golden Touch, in Hawthorne's "Wonder Book." Here 
we have simply a story full of interesting personal 
detail, with no prominence at first given to the moral. 
Toward the end of the narrative the moral idea may 
be keenly felt, though not expressly stated in words. 
The contrast in these two methods of bringing out 
a generalization is striking. The first method de- 
scribed above gives at the start dogmatic statement 
and prominence to the moral truth, while the method 
of the story gives only a hint at the beginning of 
the moral involved, but allows it to be developed 
incidentally in the course of the narrative. A few 
questions at the end of the story will bring out the 
moral idea with great clearness. This narrative is 
in its nature inductive, and its presentation to chil- 
dren might take place as follows : — 

How a King loved Gold and what came of it 

Having so many things, why should kings wish 
for anything more } If you were a king what would 
you wish for most } What would you wish for now 
if you had your choice .-* We shall see in this story 
that a certain king was given his choice of the thing 
he most desired and what came of it. 

Tell the story as given in the "Wonder Book" 
(pages 55-60), which narrates how Midas came into 
possession of the Golden Touch. Let the children 
ask questions. Let the teacher answer as well as 



26 METHOD OF RECITATION 

she can and ask others to bring out the significant 
thoughts. The children should tell the story again 
till they acquire skill and ease in its reproduction. 

The following questions are suggested : — 

What opinion have you of Midas, in the dungeon, 
counting over his money ? How might he have spent 
his time better? When Quicksilver gave him his 
choice, did Midas stop to think whether his wish 
was wise or not? 

Tell the story of Midas while he had the Golden 
Touch (pages 60-70). 

When Midas found that he had the Golden 
Touch, how did he feel and act ? When did he first 
discover that the Golden Touch was not entirely 
pleasant? How many times did he find out later 
that it was a cause of trouble ? What were the 
worst things that happened to him because of the 
granting of his wish ? How did Midas feel when he 
found out just what the magic touch meant? Could 
he help himself in any way ? Did he have exactly 
what he had wished for? What had he that he 
didn't wish for and had not counted on ? What 
could he have wished for better than the Golden 
Touch ? How did he come to make such a mistake ? 
If Quicksilver understood Midas's mistake at the 
first, why did he not tell him of his foolish choice ? 
What would have happened if Midas had not been 
able to get rid of the Golden Touch ? Was he really 
anxious to get rid of it ? What reasons had he for 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 2/ 

being more anxious to be rid of it than he was in 
the first place to have it ? 

Tell the last part of the story (pages 70-74). 

Did Midas waste any time in waiting to rid him- 
self of his gold ? How much gold did he throw 
away ? When he had sprinkled his little Marigold 
and the roses back into life, in what respect was he 
worse off or better off than at the beginning of the 
story ? Do you think he would spend much time 
in the future in the dungeon counting over his 
money ? What lesson had he learned ? He was 
a much wiser man than before. 

Have you read stories before in which persons 
were given a choice of anything they might wish ? 
Recall the story of Baucis and Philemon. 

If the children are familiar with this story, let 
them compare the choice of Midas with that of Bau- 
cis and Philemon, and give reasons for thinking their 
choice a better one. 

Why did they not choose gold as did Midas ? By 
choosing wisely, what other good fortune did they 
receive ? Recall also the story of Solomon and his 
choice. What did Solomon get besides what he 
asked for ? Why was his choice more sensible than 
Midas's ? Did Solomon have any reason for regret- 
ting his choice ? How was it with Baucis and Phile- 
mon } Is it a good thing in choosing to prefer money 
or wealth before other things ? What things are 
more valuable than money ? In the stories referred 



28 METHOD OF RECITATION 

to, what things prove most valuable in the end ? 
What least? Recall Proverbs xvi. i6, "How much 
better it is to get wisdom than gold." 

Do you know what a miser is ? Of what value is 
money to such a person ? What are some of the 
most valuable things that boys and girls may choose 
to-day ? In the choice of friends and companions, is 
there much danger of making a mistake ? Should 
wealth have much to do with it ? 

The usual social life of the school offers many 
opportunities for illustrating and applying such les- 
sons as are found in the Golden Touch. The lessons 
in reading and history may also supply good com- 
parisons. 

The Metamorphosis of Butterflies — The Milkweed 
Butterfly as a Type 

One of the older zoologies gives the following 
description of the order Lepidoptera, to which the 
butterfly belongs : — 

"This well-known and most beautiful of all the 
orders of insects comprises the butterflies and moths, 
the former being active by day (diurnal) and the 
latter mostly by twilight (crepuscular) or at night 
(nocturnal). In all the Lepidoptera the mouth of the 
adult insect is purely suctorial and is provided with a 
spiral trunk fitted for imbibing the juices of flowers. 
The wings are four in number, and are covered more 
or less completely with modified hairs or scales, which 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 29 

are pretty objects under the microscope, and from 
which the wings derive their beautiful colors. The 
larvae of the Lepidoptera are generally known as 
caterpillars. They are wormlike, provided with mas- 
ticatory organs, fitted for dividing solid substances, 
possessing false legs in addition to the three pairs 
proper to the adult, and having attached to the under 
lip a- tubular organ or spinneret, by which silken 
threads can be manufactured." (Nicholson.) 

In the above lesson we have a verbal description 
of the whole class of butterflies to be studied and 
learned by the student. 

The following treatment of the milkweed butterfly 
is based upon the idea of observation by the children, 
questions, comparison of data, collections, and con- 
clusions drawn from direct experience with the objects 
studied. The method of question and discussion can 
be indicated only in part : — 

In your previous observations in the fields and 
roads, tell of the habits of those butterflies which you 
have seen, their peculiar flight, whether they have 
been noticed on flowers or in damp places. What 
butterflies are you most familiar with ? What is their 
food ? Do you know what the butterflies come from ? 
Have you seen the chrysalis of a butterfly and 
watched its change ? What was its form before it 
became a chrysalis ? Does it seem possible that a 
butterfly could come from a caterpillar ? Have you 
noticed that certain butterflies prefer a certain kind 



30 METHOD OF RECITATION 

of plants, and what the caterpillars feed upon ? Do 
caterpillars grow larger and change ? 

For a closer understanding of the changes that 
take place in a caterpillar and in other forms we 
will follow the life and changes of the milkweed but- 
terfly from the laying of the eggs to the full-sized 
insect in its later Ufe. (Samuel H. Scudder's " Life 
of a Butterfly " will be very helpful to teachers in 
teUing where and when to look and in explaining 
many facts derived from fuller scientific studies, 
published by Henry Holt & Co., New York.) The 
principal facts, many of which can be observed by 
teacher and children, are briefly told as follows : — 
Stages. As early as April or later in summer the butterfly 

deposits its eggs (shaped Hke a sugar loaf, one- 
twentieth of an inch in height) on the under or pro- 
tected side of the upper and tender leaves of the 
milkweed. The eggs hatch out in from three to five 
days, depending on the warmth of the weather. As 
soon as the little caterpillar gets out of the Qg'g it 
turns and eats the shell, and then begins to feed on 
the green leaf of the milkweed. It is a great eater, 
and as its food is always at hand it spends most of its 
time eating and resting, day and night. (Let the 
children notice these facts as far as possible, and 
observe whether it is careful to stay on one side of 
the leaf.) In a day or two after hatching, the cater- 
pillar makes its first moult, or sheds its skin. It 
grows so fast that its skin splits off and it comes out 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 3 1 

in a new, shining coat. Three other moults follow 
before it reaches its full growth, lasting in all at least 
eleven days, but usually longer. When full grown 
"the caterpillars are striking objects, cylindrical, 
plump, naked worms, growing to the length of nearly 
two inches, with transverse bands of yellow and 
black." (Scudder.) 

" Then comes the change to the chrysalis, to seek 
a good place for which the caterpillar usually leaves 
the plant (though I have found the chrysalis hanging 
pendant from the leaf) and seeks some such stable 
place as the under side of a fence rail, or a jutting 
rock, from which to suspend. Here it hangs for a 
variable period — two to fourteen days, according to 
the season and temperature, and perhaps the expos- 
ure." "At last the golden spots (on the chrysahs) 
begin to lose their brilliancy, and the beautiful green 
disappears ; the orange wings of the imprisoned 
butterfly now become visible through its temporary 
sarcophagus, which it bursts open on the following 
day, and the liberated insect soon takes wing to join 
its comrades, select its mate, and pass the happy 
hours of a brief existence in revelling in the sweets 
of the flowers among which it sprang into being." 
(Peale, quoted by Scudder.) 

The milkweed butterfly is one of the commonest 
and most widely distributed of our butterflies. Col- 
lect two or three specimens from the meadows, 
noticing meanwhile their flight, places of lighting, 



organs. 



32 METHOD OF RECITATION 

* size, and color. It measures four or five inches from 

tip to tip of its wings. It has two pairs of large 
orange-colored wings trimmed in black. But the 
margins are dotted with white. The veins on the 
wings and the body of the insect are black dotted 
with white spots. " Of easy, quiet flight when undis- 
turbed, often sailing smoothly with widespread 
wings, yet ever ready to do battle with a tempestu- 
ous wind, a reckless adventurer in its contrasted 
livery of orange and black, it seems the very beau- 
ideal of the contented, happy-go-lucky butterfly." 

Special The orgaus of the butterfly worthy of special 

study are the wings, the eyes, the tongue, the scales, 
and the legs. A close examination of the delicately 
formed and beautiful wings gives us a striking view 
of nature's handiwork. An interesting question has 
arisen whether the butterfly can see clearly, and 
whether it does not direct its movements more by 
smell and touch than by sight. The tongue, coiled 
up like a delicate watchspring, is formed by fasten- 
ing together two long, hairlike half-tubes. These, 
when uncoiled and properly joined, form a long, 
slender, tubelike tongue, with which the butterfly 
reaches down into the cups of clover, milkweed, and 
thistle blossom, and draws up honey for its food. The 
scent scales are of peculiar importance, and the pro- 
tective coloring of caterpillars, chrysalides, and butter- 
flies, by which they manage to escape their enemies, 
has been studied with much interest by entomologists. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 33 

At all the three stages, of egg, caterpillar, and 
chrysalis, the insect is in danger from open and se- 
cret enemies. The great majority of eggs are proba- 
bly eaten before hatching out, by spiders and large 
insects, and by small parasites. The caterpillars are 
in constant danger from spiders, crickets, and bugs, 
from birds and reptiles, and from the parasitic flies 
that lay their eggs in the grubs and destroy many. 

The milkweed butterfly is found in summer as far 
north as Hudson Bay, and throughout all parts of 
the United States where the milkweed grows. It is 
supposed to be properly a tropical insect. In sum- 
mer it is believed to migrate northward with the sea- 
son, and in some cases south of parallel thirty-one, 
to come out again in the spring to lay eggs, while 
many probably migrate southward to warmer regions 
to continue their butterfly life. It is claimed that 
the insect may pass the winter in the egg state, as a 
caterpillar, a chrysalis, or as a full-grown butterfly. 

During the same season what other butterflies do other 
you see commonly along the roads and fields } Find 
in the garden some of the cabbage butterflies. Try 
to find the eggs and caterpillars. Watch their devel- 
opment and see if they go into the chrysalis state. 
Watch any of the common caterpillars and notice the 
plant on which they feed, the moulting, and the suc- 
cessive changes till maturity is reached. See if differ- 
ent butterflies get their food in the same way. 

In comparing the different common caterpillars 



34 METHOD OF RECITATION 

and butterflies observe the different plants and flow- 
ers on which they feed, the varying localities in which 
they are found, the differences in size, coloring, and 
mode of flight. Compare the whole period of devel- 
opment in one butterfly with the similar period in 
another species. Can we mark distinct correspond- 
ing stages in all the butterflies observed? Do we 
find corresponding organs and modes of feeding in 
the different caterpillars and also in the butterflies ? 

What is the outcome of this comparison of the full 
life history of different species of butterflies ? Briefly 
stated, it is that four distinct stages are clearly marked 
in the life of all the specimens observed and studied : — 

I. The egg. 2. The caterpillar with its moultings. 
3. The chrysalis or quiescent condition. 4. The full- 
winged butterfly. The mode of life in each of the 
two active stages is very similar in different cater- 
pillars and butterflies. 

We have examined, however, only a few different 
species of butterflies. In your future excursions ob- 
serve the caterpillars, chrysalides, and butterflies, 
with their life habits and changes, and see if your 
previous conclusions are correct. Notice also the life 
and metamorphosis of other insects, as moths and 
flies, and discover whether similar changes occur. 

In Unity is Strength 

This is one of the most important truths taught in 
history. A deep conviction as to its value led to the 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 35 

confederation of the colonies during the Revolution- 
ary War, to the adoption of the Constitution soon after, 
and to the Civil War. As a political doctrine it has 
always been bitterly opposed by extremists in favor 
of states' rights. But the future security of our gov- 
ernment and the welfare of our people are so greatly 
dependent upon its universal acceptance and practi- 
cal realization in our laws, that it should be as care- 
fully taught in history as are the laws of gravitation 
in physics. The portion of our history that, by con- 
trast, most forcibly teaches this proverb is the period 
immediately following the peace of 1783. Barnes^ 
devotes to it not quite one page, under the head- 
ing, "Weakness of the Government." He states that 
under the Articles of Confederation Congress cotdd 
recommendy but not enforce ; that bitter jealousies 
existed among the several states ; that there was a 
popular desire to let each state remain independent ; 
that a heavy debt had been contracted, which 
Congress was unable to pay; that people rebelled 
against payment of taxes ; and that in these 
circumstances many of the best men of the land 
felt the need of a stronger national government. 
This is a typical text-book treatment of the mat- 
ter. No direct reference is made to the above 
proverb, but the same general truth is inferred 
from a brief statement of several important 
facts. 

1 " Brief History of United States," p. 142. 



36 METHOD OF RECITATJQN 

Following is the more detailed and more inductive 
treatment of this idea of unity : — 

Let us consider what prevented the union of the 
thirteen colonies from breaking to pieces shortly af- 
ter the close of the Revolutionary War. 

What had caused their union in the first place? 
How long had it lasted ? Was it effective ? In what 
respects was it defective ? 

Even during the Revolutionary War, when there 
were the weightiest reasons for close union, the colo- 
nists were not fully united. Congress had failed to 
raise sufficient money, to levy sufficient troops, to act 
with decision, etc. What was the cause of these de- 
fects ? Congress was not endowed with large powers. 
But why not .'' Because the individual states were 
unwilling to surrender important rights to any cen- 
tral authority. What reasons, then, can be given for 
dissolving the Union at the close of the war ? The 
war was finished on account of which the Union was 
formed. Also, each state wished to secure to itself 
all power possible. 

Let us see what facts changed this feeling : — 

I. According to the conditions of the treaty the 
states were to protect loyalists, restore to them prop- 
erty confiscated, destroyed, etc. Who was to attend 
to this ? Congress. But Congress did not have suffi- 
cient power. What must have been the result ? The 
conditions of the treaty would not be fulfilled. Would 
England, then, be bound to observe the treaty ? What 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 3^ 

effect would this weakness of Congress have upon 
the general opinion entertained in foreign countries 
in regard to our own country ? 

2. At the close of the war most of the European 
nations were anxious to enter into commercial agree- 
ments with the United States. But when they saw 
the weakness of Congress, what assurance could they 
feel that such agreements would be fulfilled on our 
part ? Effect ? 

3. The states together had contracted a war debt 
of about ^150,000,000. They were already poor, and 
little inclined to levy taxes in order to pay it. Con- 
gress, too, had no power to force payment from them. 
What effect would that have upon our credit at home 
and abroad ? 

4. When the Massachusetts legislature, in spite of 
much opposition, attempted to levy taxes for the 
general government, a serious rebellion was kindled, 
known as Shays's Rebellion. Congress did not inter- 
fere. Can you imagine the reason ? It was afraid 
to. 

5. American citizens were seized and sold into 
slavery in the markets of Algiers and Tripoli with 
little hope of energetic attempts at rescue by our 
government. 

6. Congress was even unable to defend itself against 
violence. In 1783 it was driven out of Philadelphia 
by eighty mutinous and drunken soldiers. Did such 
facts bring honor or dishonor to those persons who 



38 METHOD OF RECITATION 

were unwilling to grant important powers to the 
central government ? Why ? 

7. Since there was no national coinage, what kind 
of coins would be in use ? If English, French, Ger- 
man, and Spanish coins of various and uncertain 
values were the only coins in circulation, what would 
be the effect upon trade? What would prevent 
clipping and counterfeiting ? How would a cautious 
merchant protect himself from deception ? 

8. What authority would settle disputes that 
might arise among the thirteen states ? If there 
was no authority to do this, what might easily 
result ? 

{a) There were such disputes in abundance. 
The larger states wished to become rich at the 
expense of their weaker neighbors. New York 
levied tariff duties on firewood from Connecticut, 
and upon butter, cheese, chickens, and vegetables 
from New Jersey. The New Jersey legislature in 
defence levied a tax of $1800 a year on the light- 
house off Sandy Hook, belonging to New York. 
The Connecticut merchants pledged themselves to 
suspend all commercial relations with New York 
for twelve months. Pennsylvania discriminated 
against Delaware. Thus fuel for war was being 
collected. 

{b) Differing policies in regard to importation of 
European goods widened the breach between the 
states. When the other New England states had 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 39 

virtually closed their ports to British merchandise, 
Connecticut, catching at an advantage, threw hers 
wide open. 

(c) There were territorial as well as commercial 
disputes. 

Connecticut and Pennsylvania had each claimed 
the Wyoming valley. It had been adjudged to 
Pennsylvania by a special federal court, although 
largely settled by the hated Yankees. In 1784 
great suffering was produced in the valley by 
floods and cold. Then the Pennsylvanians, instead 
of furnishing prompt assistance, sent militia into 
the region, who plundered and burned the prop- 
erty of the Yankees and drove them into the wil- 
derness. War between Connecticut and Pennsylvania 
was narrowly averted after some fighting had taken 
place. 

The territory now known as Vermont was claimed 
by New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. 
Troops were collected for the support of these claims, 
but war was temporarily prevented through Washing- 
ton's intervention. 

From these data we see that our country was un- 
able to command the respect of foreign nations, and 
even of its own citizens ; Congress could not carry out 
its agreements, pay its debts, protect its citizens, or 
even itself ; trade was greatly hindered because there 
was no central power with authority to control coin- 
age. The jealousy among the states was leading to 



40 METHOD OF RECITATION 

hostile legislation that threatened civil war ; civil war 
was further kindled by commercial and territorial 
disputes. 

The only remedy for the evil in each case was a 
strong central authority; only through such an au- 
thority could the individual states be forced to abide 
by the conditions of the treaty; it only could levy 
taxes, quell insurrection, pay the national debt, pro- 
tect its citizens, and thus command general respect. 
Only by means of this authority could the jealousy 
among the states be kept within bounds, the com- 
mercial and territorial disputes be properly adjusted, 
and frequent civil war be avoided. 

In consequence of these facts union became a 
necessity ; wise men came more and more to feel the 
force of the proverb that, " United we stand, divided 
we fall," or " In unity is, strength." 

After long discussion by representatives from the 
states and many exciting scenes in their convention, 
the final outcome was the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion, establishing a strong central government. 

Questions 

1. Why is the period immediately following the 
Revolution called the critical period of American 
History ? 

2. Is the union of our states permanently estab- 
lished } If so, when was it accomplished } If not, 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 4I 

when will it probably be accomplished ? Give 
proofs. 

3. What great orations have been delivered bear- 
ing upon this question ? What was the occasion of 
their delivery ? 

4. There are already three different governments 
upon this continent, — Mexico, the United States, 
and- Canada. They are fairly prosperous and liv- 
ing in harmony. Would you risk being shot at 
and killed in order to prevent the establishment 
of a fourth government ? Why ? Have our citi- 
zens ever had to answer that question in a practi- 
cal way ? 

5. On what other occasions has our Union been 
threatened ? State the circumstances. 

6. What European nations have suffered particu- 
larly from lack of a strong central government.^ 
What was the nature of their suffering, and how 
long did it last .'* (Germany and Italy.) 

7. What modern inventions have greatly aided in 
making a close union of our states possible ? How ? 



CHAPTER III 

HOW INDIVIDUAL AND GENERAL NOTIONS ARE DIS- 
TINGUISHED FROM EACH OTHER 

All knowledge is built up from individual and 
general realities, so that instruction is always occu- 
pied with one or the other. It has been seen that 
differences in method are due first of all to the order 
in which these two are presented ; some teachers 
would begin with the general notion or rule, and 
furnish the individual instances later, as the rule 
for the plural of nouns ending in s, x, s/i, etc., while 
others would take the opposite course. Since these 
two kinds of notions are of vital importance, it is well 
to have a clear understanding of the meaning of each. 
Sources of The notious that are furnished apparently through 

individual , . .-..,, . _, . 

the senses alone are mdividual notions. For m- 
stance, the images of the many things about us 
gained through the sense of sight belong to this 
class. I have an individual notion of the pen- 
holder with which I am now writing, of the room 
in which I am sitting, and of the meadow that I 
see from my window. Touch, without the aid of 
sight, gives a similar kind of notion ; blind men get 

42 



notions. 



HOW NOTIONS ARE DISTINGUISHED 43 

definite mental pictures of the objects about them 
by the use of their hands. It is an individual notion 
that one receives when he perceives the color of a 
flower, the odor of an apple, or the chirp of a bird. 
Thus each sense may be the source of individual 
notions or percepts, without the aid of the others. 
Usually, however, they work together, giving a com- 
bined result, as when one determines through the 
senses of sight, smell, touch, and taste that a certain 
object is an apple. In this case the idea is certainly 
very complex, but since it must be referred to one 
definite object it is called an individual notion. 

Further than that, individual facts and relation- 
ships, as well as material things, are a source of 
particular notions. For example, when we read 
in history that Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up 
the English Parliament with gunpowder in 1605, 
we picture an individual fact or notion. Again, 
when we say in grammar that the word Parliament 
in this sentence is the direct object of the verb blow 
upy and is, hence, in the objective case, we speak of 
the individual relation existing between a particular 
word and another expression ; in other words, we 
have a fact in mind which is as individual or con- 
crete in its nature as is the color of a particular 
flower. 

The nature of general notions is best seen by Origin and 
directing attention to the way in which they arise. |enerai° 
If one has seen but one chair, he has, then, only an notions. 



44 METHOD OF RECITATION 

individual notion of chair ; he has an object in mind 
of a certain size, color, material, weight, shape, etc. 
On seeing a second one, differing only in material 
from the first, the material of which it is made be- 
gins to be recognized as a subordinate matter. Let 
a dozen different kinds be seen, and more of those 
properties that are variable or individual come to be 
recognized as such ; as, for instance, the color, weight, 
shape, etc. But some characteristics remain ever the 
same, though they be few in number. Each chair 
would be found to have a back and to be intended 
for a seat. If one hundred of them were perceived, 
these common qualities would appear one hundred 
times, while others would appear only once, or sev- 
eral times, but not all of the time. These common 
or general properties compose the general notion, so 
far as it has been found. There is one important 
limitation, however. It could easily happen that each 
of the hundred chairs seen has not three or five legs, 
but just four. In that case, according to the state- 
ment just made, the general notion chair might sig- 
nify an object with a back and four legs, that was 
intended for a seat. But although all chairs thus far 
made were made with four legs, we know that it is 
not a necessary or essential property of chairs ; they 
can have a larger or smaller number. Hence the 
word chair should signify an object with a back and 
intended for a seat. The idea expressed by this defi- 
nition is what is meant by the general notion chair ; 



HOW NOTIONS ARE DISTINGUISHED 45 

it is the stem of those characteristics that are both 
common and essential to chairs. 

It is by no means easy to distinguish the essential Difficulty of 
qualities of an object from those that are common accurate 
or usually present, but accidental. Every individual g^"^''^i 

"' * -^ notions. 

thing has very many characteristics, most of which 
are entirely peculiar to itself. But it requires much 
study to determine whether some of the more com- 
mon ones are essential or not. For example, is it a 
necessary property of chairs that they be movable, 
that they be intended for one person, and that they 
approximate a certain size .'' Webster's dictionary 
includes the first two of these three limitations in the 
first definition of chair; it states that a "chair is a 
movable single seat with a back." Evidently the 
third is not considered a necessary property. Owing 
to the great difficulty in distinguishing what qualities 
are absolutely essential to a given object, it is seldom 
that really correct general notions even about com- 
mon things are reached. Few educated men can 
correctly define table or knife, or house on the spur 
of the moment, or even after reflection. Likewise, 
their conceptions of trade-centres and of social laws 
presented through literature and history (as suggested 
in the preceding chapter) are often quite undefined. 

Still, children have a vague general notion of these 
things. Wherein, then, are their generalizations dif- 
ferent from those of educated people .'' The difference 
lies in the degree to which accidental qualities are 



46 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Psychical 
and logical 
general 
notions. 



distinguished from essential ones. For a clear under- 
standing of general notions it is necessary to realize 
that there are two kinds ; namely, the crude and the 
pure. 

As soon as children begin to use the plural num- 
ber, to say even two intelligently, they are beginning 
to generalize. Of course, the individual character- 
istics of things are entirely confused with those that 
are common and necessary, and this confused state 
of mind exists throughout childhood. - It is the only 
state reached by uneducated people in regard to 
most things. Such crude concepts are technically 
named psychical notions. 

As already stated, even carefully educated men 
do not entirely escape this confusion. But their 
concepts are so much more nearly correct that they 
are often given a separate name, i.e. logical notions. 
A really logical notion is one that is absolutely cor- 
rect, or one that is entirely free from accidental 
properties ; it is, therefore, a pure notion, in distinc- 
tion from the crude (or mixed) ones held by the 
uneducated. It is rather the ideal toward which peo- 
ple work than the goal which they actually attain, 
although in certain studies, as mathematics and gram- 
mar, logical notions are probably reached. It is one 
of the chief aims of instruction to develop psychical 
into logical notions; progress in education means a 
clearing up of crude notions. Children should be 
gradually led to set aside, as unimportant, many of 



HOW NOTIONS ARE DISTINGUISHED 4/ 

the qualities of things that they have been accus- 
tomed to consider as essential, and to recognize as 
necessary some that they have heretofore overlooked, 
so that they may perceive the general notion or law 
involved. It is very important to realize that, though 
logical notions can never be fully reached, instruction 
is always striving to attain them as nearly as possi- 
ble ; they are really the goal of instruction. A gen- 
eral notion, as its name implies, does not refer to one Distinguish- 
particular object and to no other, but to many of the inli^dtmi °^ 
same sort, as the word river to a whole class of ob- ^"^ general 

T i-rr r • t • 1 i • • nOtionS. 

jects. It differs from individual notions just as com- 
mon nouns differ from proper names. The latter 
apply, in each case, to only one certain object, as 
Illinois to one of the Central states, while the former 
refer to any one of a class, as child to any one of 
millions of persons. Proper names compose a rela- 
tively small class of words; almost all other words 
stand for generalizations; for instance, the verb run 
signifies a certain class of actions ; sweet, a quality 
common to a great number of objects; the preposition 
underneath, a kind of relationship that may frequently 
exist between objects. Each of these notions, instead 
of applying to a single case and to no other, covers a 
multitude of individual cases or classes. 

Knowing now the nature of individual and general 
notions, it is comparatively easy to recognize each in 
its various forms. Numerous examples of the former 
have been given. As to the latter, not only do al- 



48 METHOD OF RECITATION 

most all words signify generalizations, but the rules 
of grammar and arithmetic do the same. The defini- 
tions of mathematics, as of triangle, plane, etc. ; the 
laws of physics, as the laws of pulleys and of gravi- 
tation ; the principles of science, as the economical 
principle that man is by nature lazy, and moral max- 
ims, as that we should do unto others as we would 
have them do unto us, are all general notions : they 
are all reached by the same process, by the separa- 
tion of non-essential characteristics from those that 
are essential. Definitions, rules, laws, proverbs, prin- 
ciples, and maxims are general truths or notions : the 
individual instances illustrating them are individual 
truths or notions. In the second place, general no- 
tions distinguish themselves from individuals by the 
fact that the latter can be imaged or pictured con- 
cretely, while the former cannot. 

Any particular chair presents a certain appear- 
ance ; it has definite form, weight, color, etc., and 
the mental picture of it contains these particular 
characteristics. Any historical event has a peculiar 
setting ; it was performed at a certain time and 
place, by a certain person or persons, under particu- 
lar conditions, in a definite manner, etc. When it 
is reproduced mentally it must be accompanied with 
its peculiar environment. Objects and events that 
have never been actually witnessed, but only imag- 
ined, must also be pictured in detail in the same 
way. But general notions and laws cannot be thus 



HOW NOTIONS ARE DISTINGUISHED 49 

clearly imaged or seen concretely. They do not 
apply to just one object, event, or relation, but to 
any and all of a class ; in fact, they have no exter- 
nal objective existence, hence they cannot be limited 
to any certain form, color, time, place, setting, etc. 
The word chair signifies the common essential char- 
acteristics of chair without reference to any particular 
example; the preposition underneath, a relationship 
that may frequently exist between nouns or pronouns 
and other words without naming any specific case; 
the moral maxim, honesty is the best policy, calls to 
mind a general truth without mentioning any in- 
stances that illustrate it. Frequently, however, these 
instances are so close at hand that, when the general 
notion is presented, one or more of the individuals 
that fall under it come immediately to consciousness. 
When we think horse, it is impossible not to call some 
favorite horse into mind. 

The last statement indicates the relationship prop- 
erly existing between individual and general notions. 
The latter are not creations entirely separated from 
the former, but are intimately associated with them. 

^ " The general notion is not a new mental product Relationship 
existing apart from and outside of the concrete no- ^ndwlduai 
tions, but it is thought out each time, inasmuch as a and general 

r 1 . , , notions. 

person from among the numerous ideas of the same 
kind (or also from only one idea) lifts exclusively the 
essential characteristics into the centre of conscious- 

1 Lange's " Apperception," p. 84. 
E 



50 METHOD OF RECITATION 

ness, and endeavors to isolate them from the others, 
which recede or withdraw (an attempt that is always, 
of course, only partially successful). It is like a 
melody that can be easily distinguished in a piece 
of music of several parts on account of special em- 
phasis or peculiar registering, while, however, it 
never ceases to form a constituent part of the sepa- 
rate accords. It happens to us regularly, when we 
attempt really to think a concept and not simply to 
repeat the words of the definition, that we involun- 
tarily glide down among its individual notions; that 
we hasten through these quickly and emphasize what 
is common and essential, rejecting the non-essential. 
The general is not really separated from the par- 
ticular, but only distinguished from it ; for deep 
down in consciousness it is always united with what 
is concrete." 



CHAPTER IV 

WHY GENERAL NOTIONS OR CONCEPTS ARE THE GOAL 
OF INSTRUCTION 

The declaration that logical notions are the goal 
of all instruction is so far-reaching in its bearings 
that it deserves further consideration. Pestalozzi 
called the attention of teachers emphatically to 
this truth, but he failed signally to apply it to his 
own teaching. Since his time men have commonly 
accepted his assertion as true, but, like him, have 
expended little effort in applying it to school in- 
struction. In consequence, one of the weightiest 
thoughts in education has been largely overlooked 
by educators. How effect reform in this direction ? 
It is certain that teachers will not labor persistently 
to reach after and apply generalizations in the class- 
room until they have learned both to distinguish 
between individual and general notions, and to ap- 
preciate the great value of the latter. The preced- 
ing chapter treated of the first of these two points 
— attempting to explain the difference between the 
two kinds of notions ; the present chapter takes up 
the second point and aims to show why instruction 
culminates in generalizations. 

51 



52 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Particular 
notions 
always the 
raw material 
of knowl- 
edge. 



Throughout this discussion it should be borne in 
mind that the value of individual or concrete facts 
as the basis of all knowledge is by no means ques- 
tioned. Undoubtedly the senses furnish the ele-" 
ments of all thought; it is only through individual 
notions, or percepts, that the higher notions, or con- 
cepts, can ever be reached. Modern philosophers, 
scientists, and teachers have demonstrated this prin- 
ciple so completely that it needs no further proof. 
Object lessons, excursions, pictures in class, etc., 
have been advocated so that learners might, through 
them, secure vivid concrete notions. Much of the 
recent reform in education has been along this line. 
Nevertheless the percepts thus obtained do not 
constitute the whole of knowledge ; they are onl)r 
its foundation; or, using another figure, they are the 
raw material out of which important thoughts are 
produced. But if instruction simply presented these 
facts and then ceased, it would be like the archi- 
tect stopping when his foundation walls were 
finished, or the manufacturer ceasing work as soon 
as the wool was collected out of which cloth might 
be made. Such work by itself is useless ; it must be 
followed by something more. So in education, per- 
cepts are not, in and by themselves^ of vital impor- 
tance to human beings ; their worth consists not in 
themselves but in what they lead to or suggest beyond 
themselves ; namely, concepts. 

Some of the facts of instruction are often felt to 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 53 

be too trivial for study. For example, who cares How to 
what the name of the man was who assassinated ' ije^ween^^ 
William of Orange ? Even if one knew it to be "^^^"^ ^"^ 

useless 

Balthazar Gerard, what worth is there in the knowl- particular 
edge ? Pestalozzi is said to have observed with care "° ^°"^' 
the cracks and the knot holes in the schoolroom wall 
with his pupils. But suppose that there are just 
twenty-eight cracks in the plastering of any room, 
you would smile at one's stating the fact, and would 
remark, " What of it ? " On the other hand, any inci- 
dents in the boyhood of George Washington are 
highly treasured ; the details of his conduct at Brad- 
dock's defeat, at Valley Forge, during his terms of 
office as President, and in his family, are preserved 
for all future generations. But why any concern 
about such events ? Washington is dead, his age 
is past, most of his actions are not directly related 
to us. Why preserve them so carefully .'' Or what 
difference does it now make whether or not a certain 
man named Guy Fawkes did attempt to blow up the 
English Parliament with gunpowder in the year a.d. 
1605 ? That was a long time ago, and our interests 
have shifted to very different scenes. Knowledge of 
that fact and its circumstances may happily prevent 
the appearance of ignorance at some critical moment, 
or help one to pass an examination creditably ; but of 
what real use is it beyond that point ? 

The reason for this difference in the value of de- 
tails is suggested by an analogy, i.e. the history of 



54 METHOD OF RECITATION 

the attention given to falling apples. Probably apples 
have been dropping from trees ever since Adam and 
Eve tasted of the forbidden fruit; but such little 
events have elicited no special interest until they 
gave hints to a philosopher of the wonderful law 
of gravitation. Their value, therefore, consists not 
in themselves, but in what they suggest. The same 
is true of Franklin's experiment with the kite and 
electricity. It would be ridiculous to preserve all 
the details of that incident if there were no uni- 
versal truth involved in it; but since it led to the 
discovery of another great natural law, it is justly 
famous. Likewise, the daring deed of Guy Fawkes 
is in itself without value; but if it is the means of 
revealing a general truth, it becomes important. In 
this historical event are revealed the boldness and 
wickedness of a few human beings, and the hos- 
tility that once threatened a strong government. 
Such facts indicate the possible wickedness of 
other human beings and the occasional hostility 
that governments must encounter. These gener- 
alizations act as warnings, and influence present 
action. As far as Washington's character is con- 
cerned, it would make little or no difference to us 
if he did struggle with almost superhuman power 
at Valley Forge, were not the quaUties that he 
there exhibited recognized as being in universal 
demand. Seeing how he acted under adverse cir- 
cumstances, we are reminded of the way in which 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 55 

all men should act. We forget that his was an in- 
dividual character, and we idealize and universalize 
it. Then, by comparison of our own lives with this 
ideal, we recognize the demand made upon us for 
nobler living. Thus, the Washington of one cen- 
tury ago touches the men of to-day through the uni- 
versal qualities of character that he presents. His 
life Bears no immediate relation to our own, but it 
suggests rules of conduct which, being general or 
universal, are binding upon all individuals alike. The 
motives that controlled his actions could scarcely be 
even matters of curiosity now, did they not seem 
sufficiently admirable to possess this universal worth. 
On the other hand, since the exact number of cracks 
in a wall hint at no rule, it is worthless knowl- 
edge. Likewise, the learning of names of capes in 
geography, of margins of leaves, of dates, is likely 
to prove valueless, because such facts usually hint 
at nothing beyond, suggest no general truth or law. 
If this standard for the worth of details were more 
generally carried in mind, many facts ordinarily 
taught would be omitted, and often others would 
take their place. 

The study of past events is valuable, therefore, to One peculiar 
the extent that they suggest laws which are applica- general 
ble at other times and in other places. Concrete facts "°^^°f^ \ 

*^ found in the 

in all subjects of study are at least comparatively breadth of 
worthless, unless they are recognized as instances application. 
of general truths. Examples in arithmetic are or- 



56 METHOD OF RECITATION 

dinarily worked, not primarily for their own sake, 
but in order to reveal the law governing the pro- 
cess involved. 

Everywhere general notions are of especial value 
because they find a broader application than indi- 
vidual notions; they possess universality. This 
thought has been tersely stated by Kant in his asser- 
tion that, ^^ Aftschatctmgen ohne B e griff e shid blind,'' 
or, Concrete notions without generalizations are 
blind; they reveal nothing, they apply to nothing. 
Hence we conclude that the first great use of gen- 
eralizations is in securing unlimited application or 
universality to knowledge. It is probably incorrect 
to say that they are more important than individual 
notions, for both are indispensable. One would 
scarcely say that the light in a lighthouse is more 
important than the lighthouse itself, for the latter is 
the condition of the former ; yet the tower was con- 
structed in order that it might contain the light, and 
it would be worthless without it; hence it finds its 
value in the light that it carries. The final object of 
the entire structure is to furnish light. So the final 
object, the goal of instruction, is the generalization, 
although individual notions are indispensable in 
attaining it. 

How gener- , 

aiizations aie Sccond, generalizations are a necessary condition 
Sinidng°and ^^^^ ^^^ thinking and for the expression of thought, 
to the Probably very little thinking takes place without the 

expression of . 

thought. help of words, or symbols that are equivalent to 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 5/ 

words ; they are the only track upon which thought 
glides along smoothly. That being the case, it is 
evident that if all words signified individuals, as 
do proper nouns, thought would be very much 
limited. Without general terms, i.e. without com- 
mon nouns and the other seven parts of speech, all 
general notions, rules, maxims, laws, etc., would fail 
us. ' Argument would be impossible, and logical con- 
clusions could not be drawn. But when general 
terms are allowed, and when the concepts for which 
they stand are abundant, thought becomes free. Not 
only that, but when concepts are well developed, a 
great impetus is given to thought. For example, if 
the general truths are well established in one's mind 
that heat expands and cold contracts, or that every- 
thing that happens has an adequate cause, one is 
prompted to make many applications of this law to 
practical affairs. Philosophers, scientists, etc., who 
have reached a large number of such generalizations, 
are continually occupied in using them as the basis 
for new hypotheses. Thus great mental activity is 
secured and valuable conclusions are reached. 

The free expression of thought to others is also 
involved in the existence of concepts. If two per- 
sons were continually seeing different objects and 
having different experiences, while general terms 
were wanting, there would be no way for one to 
communicate his ideas to the other. Any word em- 
ployed would signify only the particular experience 



58 METHOD OF RECITATION 

of a certain individual. But with an abundance of 

concepts and terms for the same, thoughts can be 

readily communicated ; then, even though people be 

not acquainted with the same individual objects, the 

common use of the same terms allows any word to 

signify essentially the same thing to each mind. 

How general A third important consideration is that the pos- 

reTaSd toThe scssion of carcfully developed generalizations signi- 

organization g^g ^ a-Qod classification of onc's knowledge. In 

ofknowl- ^ 

edge. order to be of practical use the books in a library 

must be carefully classified or arranged in groups, 
those of a kind being placed together. This is a 
matter of so much importance that in any large 
library several men devote all of their time to this 
work. Without such care books are forgotten or can- 
not be found, and hence they prove useless. The 
mind is practically a great library in which ideas 
need likewise to be carefully grouped. It is of little 
value for a man to collect a large number of precious 
experiences if they cannot be found when wanted. 
Chaos is as utterly opposed to utility in the case of 
ideas as in the case of household furniture, toilet 
articles, books, etc. 

As already seen, nature compels some degree of 
classification of our notions, for the essential charac- 
teristics of an object are presented to us in each 
individual of a class, while the non-essentials are 
likely to appear only once, or a few times. Conse- 
quently the class notions are especially impressed 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 59 

upon the mind. But this help of nature, or this 
natural tendency to classify, is not sufficient. Special 
effort must be made to harmonize and rightly group 
our ideas ; otherwise they will be often contradictory 
to one another, or poorly defined ; and those which 
are quitq unrelated will be found in the same group, 
just as books under widely varying titles may by 
accident be placed together. 

But proper classification involves more than the 
careful separation of experiences into groups ; it 
involves the ranking of the same according to their 
relative worth. Some facts are of far more value 
than others, just as the officers of an army are far 
more important than an equal number of common 
soldiers.. Unless one's generalizations have been 
carefully developed, one is likely to overlook this 
matter of relative worth and to neglect the higher 
and especially important notions. Teachers who 
have had no professional training show this ten- 
dency plainly. Their minds are so occupied with 
the details of teaching that they fail to distinguish 
more important from less important matters, and the 
idea of supreme importance, namely, the chief aim 
of instruction, is the one most neglected in their 
daily thought. 

It is, on the whole, the organization of knowledge 
that is here involved. In this age of unbounded 
faith in the efficiency of organization in all fields, 
the organization of thoughts should not be neglected. 



60 METHOD OF RECITATION 

It is the most economical means of caring for one's 
knowledge. Ideas that exist in a chaotic state are 
wasted; the more valuable the collection of them, 
the greater the waste. Until they are assorted ac- 
cording to their essential characteristics, and ranked 
according to their worth, it is impossible to retain 
them in memory, to survey them easily, and to find 
them at the moment of need. Since to generalize 
means to sort and rank notions, the reason is plain 
why instruction should culminate in generaUzations. 
How general There is a fourth reason for regarding generaliza- 
thTacqu^st tio^s ^^ supreme importance. They are the means 
tion of Qf apperceiving new experiences of any kind. It is 

knowledge. i • ^ mi 

through them that it becomes possible to acquire 
knowledge quickly and easily. Just as a new book 
readily finds its proper place in a well-classified 
library, so strange ideas readily find classification in 
a mind whose contents have been carefully arranged. 
This is seen in the reading of books on education. 
One who approaches a pedagogical work with an or- 
ganized or systematized body of educational thought 
has a framework into which to place the ideas. 
He knows quickly where each idea belongs, so 
that even if the arrangement of points in the book 
is poor, it need not be poor in the mind of the 
reader. Also, as in an army the relative rank of 
men can be quickly determined, so the relative 
worth of the many thoughts can be recognized. 
The system of thought (or the organized generali- 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 6l 

zations) already at hand is both the framework in 
which all ideas can be pigeonholed, and also the 
standard according to which their value can be 
measured. Thus, the profit from reading, from 
sight-seeing, and from conversation is directly de- 
pendent upon the extent to which one's ideas are 
brought into order and ranked. It is only through 
classification that much confusion and loss of time 
in the acquisition of knowledge can be avoided. 
Generalizations are, then, to the thinker what the 
compass is to the seaman : they enable him to keep 
his bearings, to remain free from confusion in new 
regions. 

That generalizations play such an important part 
in the acquisition and organization of knowledge, sug- 
gests an important requirement bearing on the selec- 
tion of leading topics in each study of the school 
course. 

We are getting into the way of thinking out large How gener- 

3.1lZ3.tiOTlS 3.rG 

topics as units of instruction in many of the school ^^e basis for 
studies. In readins: and literature we treat whole division of 

^ studies into 

poems, stories, and even the longer masterpieces as large topics. 
units of thought. In history we select biographical 
stories and commanding topics, like the Puritan emi- 
gration or the growth of our territory, or internal 
improvements as units of instruction. The study of 
geography and natural science by types is also a 
distinct movement toward the use of large units 
of study. 



62 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Now general notions afford an excellent basis for 
division of subject-matter into large topics^ as is shown 
in our two chapters of illustrative lessons in this book. 
In each of those examples the general truth is what 
gives connectedness and unity to the whole. For in- 
stance, the general truth, " In unity is strength," es- 
tablishes a close relation, or sequence, among a large 
number of particular facts, and thus groups them into 
one large topic. Likewise in the Metamorphosis of 
the Milkweed Butterfly, in the Golden Touch, in Min- 
neapolis as a Trade Centre, and in the Addition of 
Fractions there is the same organization of materials 
into one large unit. So, in every study, the entire 
subject-matter should be arranged in these large 
topics ; that is, the teacher should determine be- 
forehand the general truths to be taught, and should 
collect and arrange the details in each case which 
lead to them. Fortunately, in arithmetic this has 
already been done completely, and each lesson con- 
tributes to some rule, apparent even to the children. 

But where this is not done, miscellaneous collec- 
tions of facts are made and committed to memory, as 
when children in beginning the geography of New 
England are asked to learn a list of products, as fol- 
lows : boots and shoes, granite, cotton goods, lumber, 
firearms, fish, paper, ships, wooden ware, maple 
sugar, etc. This means disorder and confusion. 

The prime defect in such cases lies in the original 
selection and arrangement of the subject-matter with- 



THE GOAL OF INSTRUCTION 63 

out much regard to controlling principles. A study- 
is looked upon as a large accumulation of single 
facts, when it should be considered as a series of 
large topics, each containing a general truth. 

If we can once get this idea of large units of in- 
struction, each determined and organized by a cen- 
tral truth, we can more easily understand and apply 
a rational method of dealing with such units. The 
following chapters endeavor to bring this truth out 
more fully. 



CHAPTER V 

DO GENERALIZATIONS PRECEDE OR FOLLOW INDI- 
VIDUAL NOTIONS ? 

It has been shown that general truths are the cen- 
tral objects of interest in instruction. The process 
of acquiring knowledge consists in securing an in- 
sight into them and the ability to apply them easily 
in all possible directions. For instance, one has 
added much to his knowledge when he has come 
to see clearly the single general truth that the pres- 
ence of a definite aim is the condition of effective 
work in any line; the teacher may apply this gen- 
eralization first of all to the school, seeking out the 
great purpose of instruction ; then to each branch 
of study, and to each recitation ; finally, he may 
apply it to other spheres of activity, as to that of the 
lawyer, of the minister, and even to human life as a 
whole ; one may never finish the application of such 
a broad truth, but knowledge grows as insight into it 
and ability to apply it are increased. 

The inquiry next in place touches the manner in 
which generalizations should be reached. Should 
they precede or follow the study of individual no- 

64 



ORDER OF GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 65 

tions ? The first distinction between good and bad 
method, or the first test of method, is found in the 
answer to this question. 

It is scarcely possible to conceive that primitive How the race 
man began work with an outfit of general notions, acquire^ 
On the contrary, he certainly had to discover the knowledge, 
simplest facts for himself. 

By experiment in its childhood the race learned 
that flint makes good arrowheads, that meat spoils 
quickly in warm weather, that the deer has certain 
habits. Higher truths have been reached by more 
developed peoples, but by the same route. Very 
slowly have the laws been attained that pertain to 
falling bodies, to the properties of gases, the pres- 
sure of air, etc. The data for the same have been 
recorded one after another, and often centuries have 
elapsed between the time when the data for a great 
law were recorded and the time when the latter was 
really brought to light. In other words, the prog- 
ress of the race has been necessarily experimental 
and inductive ; it has reached the abstract or general 
through the concrete or individual. 

In many respects the child is an imitator of the How the 

. - . child must 

race. It is asserted by numerous emment authori- begin, 
ties that the chief stages in his development corre- 
spond in a large way with those of the race. If 
he passes through the same great culture epochs 
as his ancestors, it is quite possible, then, that his 
approach to general truths is the same as theirs. 



66 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Herbert Spencer is of the opinion that this is the case. 
He says, in substance, that the mind of humanity, 
placed in the midst of phenomena and striving to 
comprehend them, has, after endless comparisons, 
speculations, experiments, and theories, reached its 
present knowledge of each subject by a specific 
route ; that the relationship between mind and phe- 
nomena, it may rationally be inferred, is such as to 
prevent this knowledge from being reached by any 
other route; and that, as each child's mind stands 
in the same relationship to phenomena as that of 
humanity, they can be accessible to it only through 
the same route.^ 

Aside from this argument, the proper answer to 
the question whether the statement of generaliza- 
tions should precede or follow the study of individ- 
ual notions, seems almost self-evident from the 
discussion in the previous chapter. 
Another ^ Sincc couccpts or general truths can be drawn 
ccmcepti ^ only from percepts or individual instances, it seems 
should follow necessary that these latter should be presented and 

percepts. 

discussed before the former are deduced and worded. 
Just as the acorn must be present before the oak 
can be produced, so the concrete example must pre- 
cede the abstract rule; in both cases growth is in- 
volved : in the one instance it is a material growth, 
in the other a psychological one. One might as 
well expect noise without vibrations as generaliza- 

1 " Education," Chapter II. 



ORDER OF GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 67 

tions without particulars. And the order in which 
individual and general notions are produced should 
fully determine the order in which they should be 
studied by children. To think them out clearly 
means indeed to produce them. 

General truths are not a finished product that can 
be handed about from person to person, examined 
and traced back to their origin. Each man, in order 
to have them really, must give birth to them within 
his own mind, and they must be born out of the indi- 
vidual notions that are already there present. " The 
general notion is not a new mental product existing 
apart from and outside of the concrete notions, but 
it is thought out each time, inasmuch as a person 
from among the numerous ideas of the same kind 
. . . lifts exclusively the essential characteristics 
into the centre of consciousness and endeavors to 
isolate them from the others which recede or with- 
draw." It is not, therefore, the business of the 
teacher to retail ready-made general notions. Gen- 
eral truths should be taught after individuals ; that is 
the proper sequence. 

Yet the world has for ages allowed the other why general 
order, and probably to-day the great majority of often pre- 
teachers present first the rule, then the example, sented first. 
Almost all text-books were modelled after this plan 
until very recent years ; gradually, now, books fol- 
lowing the inductive method are being introduced 
into the schools. One explanation of this error is 



68 METHOD OF RECITATION 

that it seems to the instructor muck easier to teach 
in this way. It requires great energy to collect a 
large number of facts, and then so to arrange and 
compare them as to lead to an important law or 
truth. And especially does it require great energy 
to keep this course up. No wonder, then, that it 
has not been usually done. If we want children to 
comprehend and learn important principles, why not 
give them these latter outright } Or, still better, why 
not give them these together with a few examples — 
then the result is assured. So teachers reason, and 
so they act, thus obeying the universal desire to 
avoid work. Another reason for this short-sighted- 
ness is found in the desire to save time. It is a very 
slow process to approach broad truths inductively. 
It seems a much shorter, simpler route to learning to 
offer rules outright and have them committed to 
memory with a few illustrations. 
But labor and Howcvcr, this inverted order means a loss rather 
than a saving of time and labor. For instance, when 
children begin mode in grammar by learning that it is 
**the manner in which the action, being, or state ex- 
pressed by the verb is stated or conceived," time is 
lost, because these are mere empty words until the 
pupils have been made conscious, through numerous 
examples, that there are several ways of conceiving 
action, being, and state. Usually, although children 
have been comprehending and speaking their mother- 
tongue for many years before this definition is 



time are lost. 



ORDER OF GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 69 

reached in school, they have reflected so Uttle upon 
their own speech that they are ignorant of the exist- 
ence of several modes. It would require considerable 
time to reach back into their experiences and collect 
enough instances in which action, being, and state 
have been differently conceived, to convince them 
that this definition pertained to their own lives or 
had any worth for them. Consequently, when they 
learn it first, they get empty words and not a thought. 
— The same thing is true in geography when defini- 
tions of mountain, plateau, etc., are given before par- 
ticular mountains, plateaus, etc., have been studied. 
The emphasis now laid upon home geography is 
partly caused by belief in inductive work. One can- 
not always visit a mountain, plateau, etc., but he can 
study one or several of these objects in detail before 
receiving a definition of the same. — No time is saved 
by presenting the rule for division of fractions, or the 
definition of specific gravity, before numerous con- 
crete examples have been carefully examined. In all 
cases, whatever labor and time are spent in pretend- 
ing to understand what one does not and, from the 
nature of the case, cannot understand, are entirely 
lost. 

But there is more than a loss of labor and time in Also danger 
giving the generalization first, for children are there- f^j. subject. 
by forced to approach a subject from the least attrac- 
tive side. They are called upon to master the words 
for a thought that is not expected to be understood 



70 METHOD OF RECITATION 

till later. Just as it is injudicious for men and 
women to present their least agreeable side to 
strangers, so it is unpedagogical to introduce chil- 
dren to topics in a way that least appeals to their 
past experiences and interests. When the rule is 
placed in front they are necessarily reminded of 
their weakness rather than of their strength, and an 
unfriendly feeling is engendered toward the subject 
in hand. Consequently not only are labor and time 
lost, but children are repelled by such instruction. 
An apparent But many eminent men have been educated in just 
explained. ^^^^ way, and it often happens that general truths are 
immediately comprehended on presentation. Is it 
entirely in vain, therefore, that rules are offered di- 
rectly, with the hope of abridging the process of 
acquiring knowledge ? 

If it be true, as was asserted, that generalizations 
arise in only a single way, that they have their origin 
solely in individual notions, then there is only one 
possible way of approaching them. The fact that 
they are at times fully understood as soon as heard, 
is no exception to this rule. In such cases past life 
has happened to furnish enough individual experi- 
ences, and these are sufficiently present in conscious- 
ness to give a meaning to the words that are heard. 
The reason that the words are comprehended is that 
the truth has already been reached inductively, and 
it is now simply being worded. Now and then, too, 
where past experience bears apparently little relation 



ORDER OF GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 7I 

to some general statement, a person shows strange 
power to reproduce and mass data that can explain it. 
But that is the privilege of only an unusually quick 
mind, and is no exception to the psychological law. 
Even in such cases, unless the supposed generaliza- 
tions are merely reviews or applications of truths 
developed in the past, they are still in reality ap- 
proached inductively : the words are empty, or carry 
only a doubtful meaning, until facts are called to mind 
which form a basis for drawing the desired conclu- 
sion ; light is then shed upon them, or they are given a 
content. The statement of the general truth first is, 
therefore, merely a challenge to hunt up the data that 
prove the truth. With trained adults acquainted with 
the subject, and with very bright minds, the challenge 
is received joyfully, and activity follows that results 
in clear insight. 

But that does not happen in ordinary instruction. 
Usually the generalizations that the school should 
teach are too far in advance of the child's or youth's 
knowledge to be understood at a glance ; or even if 
his past experience actually contains all of the con- 
crete facts required, they are so scattered and so far 
removed from consciousness when needed that they 
are practically wanting. Then this pleasant chal- 
lenge is converted into a disagreeable command; it 
is a circumlocution in method that causes loss of time 
and destruction of interest. 

The conclusion is therefore reached, that the only 



72 METHOD OF RECITATION 

wise course is to bring together or present concrete 
notions in advance of the rules which they would 
teach. Accordingly, the statement of the rule for 
addition of fractions should follow the solution of 
several examples involving addition ; the law for the 
metamorphosis of insects should follow the study in 
detail of one or more types of insects; likewise the 
definition of trade-centre, the underlying truth in the 
Golden Touch, and the proverb in regard to unity 
should all come after the concrete data. The second 
presentation of each of these general truths, as out- 
lined in Chapter II, illustrates how this might be 
planned. 
Outline of With this important conclusion established, it is 

possible to distinguish the outline of method. There 
are three great topics to be kept in mind ; namely, 
individual notions, general notions, and the applica- 
tion of general notions. There are no others, because 
these three cover the entire circuit; there is no part 
of instruction that can fall outside of them. 

From what has immediately preceded, these three 
topics must be treated in the order mentioned ; i.e. 
first, individual notions must be taught, then progress 
should be made from the individuals to the generals, 
then these latter should be applied. This necessary 
order constitutes the first great law of method. 

And since all mistakes in method of teaching can 
be made only in one of these three fields, there are 
naturally three leading questions in method : — 



ORDER OF GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 73 

1. How should individual notions be acquired ? 

2. How should progress be made from individual 
to general notions ? 

3. How should general notions be applied ? 

If there is a necessary way of acquiring individual 
notions, and also of passing from individuals to gen- 
erals, then, besides the great law of method already 
mentioned, i.e. induction, other laws may be estab- 
lished which will prove of great value. 

It is our next duty to discuss the first of these 
three questions. And as the acquisition of individ- 
ual notions requires the consideration of a large num- 
ber of topics, the problem will be divided into two 
parts or chapters : first, how individual notions should 
be prepared for or approached ; second, how they 
should hQ presented. 



CJIAPTKR VI 

HOW INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS SifOULD BE APPROACHED 

Wk have already discussed the nature of individ- 
ual notions in distinguishing thern from general no- 
tions, and have seen that they are identical with 
Abun^Lan'^r; pevcepts or concrete notions. A large number of such 
cj^cnce.^ notions are acquired during the first years of life by 
direct contact with individual things. Children see, 
handle, taste, smell, etc., and thus receive their first 
impressions. They also perceive individual events 
and relationships. The birds in their neighborhood 
build their nests and rear their young ; their favorite 
trees blossom and bear fruit; the seeds of certain 
flowers arc found to be transported in all directions 
by the wind and often by animals ; the cold weather 
causes the village pond to freeze over, and certain 
vessels containing water to burst. The intercourse of 
men with one another is likewise noted ; one speaks 
angrily with another; two are observed to be united 
by the bond of friendship; some perform many kind 
acts, while others seem to be guided by certain ig- 
noble motives, etc. All such things and many more 
are perceived, and leave impressions called individual 
notions. 

74 



THK AI'PKOACn TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 75 

This process of learning by direct experience con- 
tinues throughout life. But if a person is left en- 
tirely to himself in acquiring knowledge, he is likely 
to make serious mistakes in even the simplest obser- 
vations, and to be very superficial. One sees birds Extent of 
daily, but it is rarely the case that he can describe gense'"*"' 
common birds accurately ; favorite shade trees that expfrricncc. 
h'ne ojjr streets, as the elm and the maple, are scarcely 
seen, although we almost touch them every day; few 
can tell when they bear flowers and seeds, or whether 
they bear them at all, or not. Many persons cannot 
even tell the color of the eyes of their friends and 
daily companions. Carelessness in the observation 
of common events is ju.st as striking: we fail to note 
the direction of the wind and the habits of animals ; 
few can tell how a cow lies down r)r how a horse gets 
up. This inability to see correctly, or to see at all, 
is shown in a practical way in the courtroom by the 
failure of eye-witnesses of objects and events to agree 
as to what was seen. 

It is the mission of the school, so far as it can, to How the 
1-1 11 • Til school sup- 

correct and widen such observation. I^ut there are pUtmrtnts this 

many individual objects of study that cannot be ^^^p*^''"^"*^''- 
brought before the senses of children, and in.struction 
must deal with the.se also as best it can. For exam- 
ple, many geographical and historical objects which 
are di.stant in place or time still need to be sharply 
grasped by the children. Famous scenes in history, 
interesting and picturesque places in geography, need 



'J^ METHOD OF RECITATION 

to be presented definitely to the mind. Pictures, 
drawings, famous paintings, photographic views of 
notable buildings, churches, monuments, etc., are in- 
dispensable for giving correct notions of individual 
things. The teacher may also use diagrams, and 
simple plans and sketches on the blackboard, not 
only to explain forts, cities, battles, journeys, cam- 
paigns, voyages, etc., but also to make plain particular 
processes in the industries, machines, and inventions, 
devices for overcoming difficulties, experiments in 
natural science, the movements of planets in the 
solar system, and many similar particulars. The 
children also should use these same graphic means 
of expressing their thought, and thus become more 
clearly acquainted with the facts. 

Even in natural science, which is primarily a study 
of things present to the senses, there are many 
objects and particulars, at home and abroad, which 
can best be shown by skilful devices and graphic 
diagram : such as the circulation of the blood, life 
processes in plant and animal, chemical and physical 
changes and forces, microscopic life and changes as 
touched upon in grammar grades, geological strata, 
mathematical geography, and many other examples 
in science. A large portion of the time given to 
elementary branches must be devoted to the study of 
these objects of sense, either present or absent. 
Defects in gyt jt is evident that instruction which deals with 

this 

instruction, these distant objects is subject to even more frequent 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS // 

errors than is the study of objects present to the 
senses. The first great source of error, therefore, is 
found in the faultiness of this original raw material 
of knowledge, the sense-percepts. 

The second and perhaps still more troublesome why the 

r • r J • ^.^ 7 •. 1 ' 1 • 1 teacher must 

source of error is found in the language with which regard words 
we try to express or convey knowledge. Language is ^'^^. . 
indispensable to thought, and yet when carelessly 
used it is a prolific source of confusion. For words 
are but the arbitrary symbols of knowledge and in 
themselves mean nothing. The words that we see 
or hear sometimes mean little or nothing to us, some- 
times they suggest a wrong notion or one different 
from that intended by the speaker or writer. Seldom 
does a word mean exactly the same to two different 
persons. And yet, since not only the geographical 
and historical events, but even the objects studied, 
cannot usually be present to the senses, instruction 
must depend mainly upon these faulty instruments 
to build up new and correct mental images. What 
a wide door is here opened for misconception and 
error in the use of language ! 

Now instead of sharply noticing the sources of 
error in the use of words and of pressing back of 
them to the original objects and facts themselves, 
teachers have often made the surprising mistake of 
thinking that bare words have a peculiar power for 
directly conveying knowledge, that a mere word is 
the equivalent of an idea, and that verbal descriptions 



7« 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Proof from 
Rousseau's 
experience. 



of objects and events can build up in children's 
minds vivid and correct mental pictures. This view 
of teaching made instruction an apparently simple 
and easy matter. Any one could teach who could 
govern a school, who possessed the necessary knowl- 
edge, and who had a good command of language. 

But the modern understanding declares teaching to 
be by no means so easy or mechanical; there are sev- 
eral important conditions to be fulfilled before facts 
communicated by words can result in real knowledge, 
and it is the observance of these that makes teaching 
a difficult process. 

One of these conditions that is essential is sug- 
gested by a story that Rousseau relates in his *' Emile." 
He had accepted an invitation to spend a few days 
at the country home of a woman of rank who was 
much interested in the education of her children, 
and he happened one morning to be present in a 
history recitation conducted by a private tutor with 
the eldest boy. The topic under discussion was the 
well-known story of Alexander and his physician, 
Philip. It was related how the former was warned 
by friends that Philip was untrue to him and was 
awaiting an opportunity to give him poison ; and 
that, nevertheless, when in need of medicine, Alex- 
ander took the proffered goblet and drank its con- 
tents without hesitation. At dinner the child was 
called upon to relate the narrative, and did so amidsl 
much applause. There then followed some discu.s- 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 79 

sion of its merits. The majority of the guests 
present agreed that Alexander was very rash, while 
some, among whom were the tutor and the boy, 
greatly admired his bravery. This was enough to 
convince Rousseau that none of them had a proper 
appreciation of the real greatness of Alexander's 
act. It was to him first of all a profession of faith 
in mankind. Alexander believed in human virtue ; 
he had faith in his friends, even to the extent of 
putting his life in their hands. 

But the great educator was particularly interested 
in the interpretation which the boy might put upon 
the story ; accordingly, at the first opportunity after 
dinner, the two took a stroll together through the 
park. Rousseau had already come to suspect, from 
several signs, that the boy had no correct compre- 
hension of the story which he had related so beauti- 
fully. He therefore questioned him at his ease 
and found that he, more even than his instructor or 
any of the guests, was an admirer of the courage 
that Alexander had displayed. ** But," proceeds 
Rousseau, " do you know wherein he saw this cour- 
age ? Solely in the act of swallowing a bitter-tast- 
ing potion without hesitation and without showing 
the least repugnance. The poor child who, less 
than two weeks before, had been required to take 
some medicine and had found it extremely difficult, 
had still the after-taste of medicine in his mouth. 
To him death and poisoning meant only disagreeable 



8o METHOD OF RECITATION 

sensations, and he could conceive of no poison more 
disagreeable than his own drug. However, I must 
confess that the courage of this hero had made a 
deep impression upon his young mind, and he had 
firmly resolved to be brave like Alexander the next 
time it might be necessary for him to swallow such 
a draught." 

Here we have a simple narrative interpreted in 
four different ways, and it is easy to determine the 
cause. The taking of medicine being an important 
incident in the anecdote, and the boy's experiences 
along this line being recent and vivid, he made out 
its meaning through their help. The tutor, also, 
saw bravery in Alexander's act, but of a different, 
more soldier-like quality. 

The majority of the guests considered Alexander 
very rash, because they called to mind, in interpreting 
the deed, past experiences that were only superficially 
related to it, while Rousseau, being a man who had 
learned to appreciate the beautiful and noble, had 
apperceiving feelings which led him to class this 
among the noblest acts of man. This is proof that 
the mere recital of words gives no guarantee of a 
The most correct interpretation. Further than that, we see 

important ^.i . •. • i t ^^ • • • 

principle of that it IS the past that conditions the present ; it is 

sT^^ested^'^^ our past ideas, feelings, habits, etc., that interpret 

the new experiences which are offered us. This 

fact is seen in the varying impressions that the 

members of an audience carry away from a lecture 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 8 1 

which all have had an equal opportunity to hear. 
It is seldom that a simple announcement to the sev- 
eral hundred students in a normal school is under- 
stood in the same way by all present. In such cases 
the difference in interpretation cannot be due to a 
difference in what is heard, for all hear exactly the 
same words ; it must be due, therefore, to differences 
in those that listen; according to the thoughts that 
are uppermost in their minds they get meaning from 
the words that are uttered. It is clear, then, that 
we "proceed from the known to the unknown" in 
learning, or that we "get out of a thing what we 
put into it." This is probably the most important 
of all the principles of teaching, and is commonly 
called the prijiciple of apperception. 

There are two considerations which must be con- 
tinually kept in mind if this great law shall be suc- 
cessfully applied by the teacher : — 

First, any new hiowledgc offered to a child must First condi- 
be met by old ideas closely related to it if it is to be appUcilior'^ 
well comprehended and appreciated. A child who of principle 

^ ofappercep- 

has been blind from birth, and whose sole means tion. 
of discovering the presence and quality of objects is 
through the sense of touch, cannot comprehend how 
an ordinary person can know that there is a horse 
down the street ; it is necessary for the blind child 
to go and place his hands upon the animal to de- 
termine where and what it is. Also, having no ap- 
preciation of color, he is unable to distinguish what 



82 METHOD OF RECITATION 

things have that characteristic, or to see anything 
inappropriate in the question, What is the color of 
the days of the week? One child to whom this 
query was put, very naturally replied that they 
were probably blue, for he had heard people speak 
of " blue Monday " ; another likened red to the 
sound of a trumpet. Thus the absence of a cer- 
tain class of experiences prevents the possibility of 
interpreting ideas belonging to that class. 

The majority of men would learn almost as little 
from a lecture on calculus as the blind boy from one 
on color. But as things begin to come within our 
range of knowledge and interests, they begin to 
carry meaning. The wild Indian on the western 
plains would appreciate the sight of a man climb- 
ing a telegraph pole in modern fashion, for he does 
enough climbing himself to realize that it is no easy 
task to go up a smooth pole. Still, there is such a 
wide chasm between his daily thoughts and most 
modern inventions, that he would be unlikely to 
have much regard for a steam-engine. The school- 
boy who reads about the threefold division of so- 
ciety in European countries is confronted by much 
the same difficulty; his environment being usually 
his sole source of help, he attempts to divide his 
own little community into three strata, according 
to the description. In this country the attempt 
necessarily meets with failure, and consequently the 
thought has little force. Thus, in applying the law 



condition. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 83 

that new knowledge can be acquired solely through 
the old, it must be remembered that the relationship 
between the new and the old must be very close, if 
the former is to be well comprehended and ap- 
preciated. 

The second consideration is just as important as a second 
the first in influencing the method of teaching ; it is 
that any one must be fully conscious of this close con- 
nection between the known and that which is yet to 
be learned. If this consciousness is lacking, the 
two are practically disconnected, no matter how 
close their real kinship may be. We often meet 
old friends and regard them as strangers, and this 
happened so regularly in the schoolroom that it 
would be difficult to accomplish it more cer- 
tainly. 

For instance, children are not expected to dis- 
tinguish the grammatical subject and predicate of sen- 
tences before the eleventh year of age. But they 
have been speaking English nine or ten years, and 
understanding it fully as long. Of course, then, they 
know "what they are speaking about" when they 
utter their thoughts, and they know well, too, what 
they say about their topics of conversation. They 
understand their mothers and their friends just as 
well as themselves. Any child, then, has had daily 
practice for ten years in distinguishing "subject" 
and " predicate," and has become quite an adept 
at it before he is required to study such matter in 



V 



$4 METHOD OF RECITATION 

school. What teachers need to do is to remind him 
of this abundant experience and show him that, while 
he knows a great deal about this topic, there are 
many things yet to learn ; he is then ready for work. 
But, alas ! What is usually done ? Without refer- 
ence to the past, words are repeated and drilled upon 
until children are fully convinced that subjects and 
predicates are far from their daily needs, and in de- 
spair they declare prepositions, adjectives, conjunc- 
tions, etc., to be subject or predicate, according as 
they think they can best please their instructors. 
Mode is surrounded with the same strange atmos- 
phere. In spite of the fact that children are actu- 
ally using all of the modes continually ; in spite 
of the fact that they have already been introduced 
to two of them in the primary ; namely, the indicative 
and imperative, under the guise of telling and com- 
manding sentences ; and in spite of the fact that they 
are already acquainted with both words, rnode and 
mood {diS in fashion journals, "mode" of doing this 
and that, " pleasant mood," etc.), the topic is so taught 
that both the words and ideas seem never to have 
been heard before, or to have no bearing upon daily 
living. 

Many a teacher of Homer or Virgil confuses his 
pupils for weeks by talk about scansion, quantity, 
feet, and accent. High school students may become 
fully lost in such work, notwithstanding the fact that, 
even as babes, they greatly enjoyed the rhythm of 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 85 

Mother Goose, and the regularity of accent found 
later in poetry for children. If high school profes- 
sors would only establish the conviction in the minds 
of their students that this subject of scansion is a 
very familiar one, and even that a principal difficulty 
in reading in the primary grades is the tendency to 
scan or sing the poetry read, this whole subject would 
be greatly simplified. 

It is strange how topics that have been thoroughly 
and even easily mastered in one study may appear 
difficult when broached in a very different study. 
The matter of exponents is an example in point. In 
arithmetic, without any special effort, children com- 
prehend that the square of two, multiplied by the 
cube of two, equals the fifth power of two, and that 
the cube of three, multiplied by the cube of three, 
equals the sixth power of three. It could not be 
otherwise. Examples are frequently given by the 
teacher bearing upon this point, and seldom or never 
do pupils trip upon it. But how different in algebra ! 
Exponents are there the bane of the student. In 
spite of the fact that high school classes are drilled 
continually upon the rules pertaining to this subject, 
and are given abundant practice in application, from 
my own experience in examining twenty-five high 
schools in Illinois three out of five students will 
declare that the square of A, multiplied by the cube 
of A, equals the sixth power of A. What a quantity 
of effort might be saved if, in approaching this topic 



k 



86 METHOD OF RECITATION 

the first time, the related facts in arithmetic were 
called to mind and made the basis for the study of 
exponents. 

The fact should be emphasized that, though chil- 
dren are familiar with a certain object and have seen 
it often, yet if they believe the contrary, the con- 
trary might as well be true, so far as the acquisition 
of knowledge is concerned. For instance, I once 
knew of a room of forty fourth-grade and fifth-grade 
children in which nearly all asserted that they had 
never seen a valley. Of course, under those circum- 
stances, they could not be expected to feel at home 
in the study of valleys. Yet it was soon discovered 
that every child had travelled upon the railroad; that 
he remembered having crossed several bridges ; that 
water was seen underneath. There was even a small 
stream in that town which the children had often 
crossed on a bridge. Of course, then, they had seen 
valleys; and- those which they had seen should cer- 
tainly have formed the introduction to the discussion 
of this subject. 
Feelings also The principle here involved applies as much to the 
bVs^nifkr appreciation oi feelings as to the appreciation of ideas, 
feelings. Take, for example, the first three stanzas of Gray's 
** Elegy in a Country Churchyard " : — 

" The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea ; 
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 8/ 

" Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
And all the air a solemn stillness holds, 
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds ; 

" Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower 

The moping owl does to the moon complain 
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower. 
Molest her ancient, solitary reign." 

The thought here is so simple that it can be easily 
comprehended and still leave little trace of itself in 
the minds or hearts of pupils. This poetry is first of 
all an appeal to the emotions, and certain past feel- 
mgs must be present in consciousness before it can 
be properly appreciated. As one recalls his pensive 
attitude on some well-remembered summer evening 
when, in the gloaming, he observed the cattle and 
the workmen winding their ways homeward, when 
darkness gradually shut away the outer world and 
produced a feeling of loneliness, when the noisy 
world grew quiet and only the buzzing of insects and 
the tinkling of bells could be occasionally heard, then, 
as these pictures and the accompanying feeHngs are 
vividly reproduced, is one in the right frame of mind 
for such a poem. Boys and girls must recall definite 
times in their lives when they enjoyed such reflec- 
tions as these, and their feelings on those occasions 
must be reproduced before they will be able to enter 
into the spirit of these stanzas. 

This poem is a type of many subjects of instruc- 



88 METHOD OF RECITATION 

tion. In Sunday-school work, in prose literature, in 
history, in nature study, and in art, real appreciation 
often involves much more than the mere comprehen- 
sion of the facts or statements ; new feelings are to 
be aroused, and in that case the past related emo- 
tions should be recalled and renewed before a proper 
means for arousing new emotions can be considered 
to be at hand. We state the same general thought 
in other words when we say that feelings or moods 
are a great factor in education. The business man 
appreciates them. Like the teacher, he is attempt- 
ing to influence customers by the ideas he presents, 
and, if he is skilful, he is very careful to broach a 
matter "at the proper time," i.e. when his listener is 
in the mood for it. If the right mood is not present, 
he postpones his business discussion until a more 
fitting time, or seeks to bring it about by introducing 
other topics of conversation for a period. 

The child recognizes the same important principles 
of action in dealing with his parents. Even the 
infant is often too wise to ask a favor abruptly of 
his mother if he suspects it is likely to be refused ; 
he cajoles her rather, until he thinks she is in the 
humor to grant his request, then he presents it. 
Children in school often exhibit the same tact toward 
their teachers ; they study the latter closely and vary 
their words and conduct according to the mood that 
prevails at the time. If instinct teaches business 
men and children to regard moods as highly impor- 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 89 

tant in all attempts to influence other people, why 
should not teachers obey the same impulse and be at 
least as pedagogical as these uninitiated ones ? If 
they did so, they would feel their way cautiously into 
many a subject where now they rush upon it abruptly. 

From the preceding facts it follows that new feel- 
ings are dependent upon old feelings for interpreta- 
tion and appreciation, just as new facts upon old 
ones : the law of going from the known to the un- 
known is evidently capable of wide application. 
There are two factors to be kept in mind in its appli- 
cation : not only must there be old knowledge and 
emotions closely related to the new, but the learner 
must be conscious of this close relationship. 

The two great facts just mentioned suggest some 
important conclusions : — 

I. Good teaching deals primarily with ideas and Conclusions 
feelings rather than with words, and it consists in prfifcipfe of ^ 
fitting or dovetailing new thoughts and emotions appercep- 
with those already in the pupil's possession ; it is a 
process of adjusting the new to the old ; and the 
extent to which a close adjustment is secured deter- 
mines the effectiveness of the instruction imparted. 
Real skill is required to do this; hence teaching is 
not a merely mechanical work that any one can do. 
Not every one can teach ; even those who know the 
subject-matter of instruction thoroughly may make 
an utter failure of it. In order to fit new knowledge 
to what the child already knows, it is necessary not 



90 METHOD OF RECITATION 

only to be acquainted with the facts to be offered, 
but also with the child to whom they are to be 
offered ; the latter is a more difficult task, yet the 
pupil must be thoroughly understood before deftness 
can be shown in the matching process. 

But while teaching is difficult, there is comfort in 
the fact that it is a kind of work in which skill can 
be acquired. It is not true that '^ teachers are 
born, not made." The average person can become, 
or be made, a teacher, provided he will study the 
child and the laws of influencing him with the same 
care that he studies the subjects to be offered. 

2. Words have no magic power ; they are a sub- 
ordinate instrument in the acquisition of knowledge, 
being mere symbols by which experiences are called 
to mind. If these latter are wanting, there is no 
effect. The eloquence of Cicero could not explain 
to a deaf man what music is, or to a blind man what 
scarlet is, if the defect in hearing or sight dated 
from birth. 

Even the fact that pupils remember the words of 
the teacher, or of the book, and can repeat them 
promptly, gives no sufficient proof of knowledge ; it 
gives proof only of a good verbal memory. Very 
often the ability to reproduce exact words of defini- 
tions, etc., is only a cloak or mask behind which 
ignorance is concealed. For instance, exceedingly 
few English speaking people ever reach any real 
appreciation of case in grammar, although they can 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 9I 

give the definition and some examples very readily. 
Few teachers of case ever have any warm feeling 
for that subject, which is evidence that they have 
not yet made it their own. Much verbatim memoriz- 
ing is merely practice in unconscious deception, for 
thereby both teachers and students are persuaded 
that knowledge is acquired, when, in fact, it is only 
the symbols for ideas rather than the ideas them 
selves that are mastered. 

3. The mind is not a passive recipient of knowl- 
edge^ like a vessel for water, or a storehouse for 
grain. It is active in choosing ; it applies the 
severe test of kinship to all that is presented to it, 
ignoring whatever seems foreign, and giving a warm 
reception to whatever appears closely related to its 
needs. 

The past is, therefore, the foundation for all 
future learning. This is true of any kind of knowl- 
edge, and applies fully to the acquisition of indi- 
vidual notions. There is no short cut to learning 
by merely " handing over " ideas from one person 
to another ; whatever is received is accepted solely 
on the condition that it find a foundation suited to 
it ; all else is discarded. 

It is theyfri-/ duty of the teacher, then, to direct Meaning of 
attention to the past related experiences. The step;^^'^^ °^^ 
architect provides first for the foundation of his 
building, and the stronger the superstructure is to 
be, the deeper he digs into the earth for the base. 



92 METHOD OF RECITATION 

This takes time and costs much money, but it is 
manifest folly to omit it. The same is true of the 
instructor ; the sole condition under which a sure 
reception can be found for what he offers, is that 
he direct attention very carefully to the old ideas 
as the groundwork. 

This first duty, ox first step^ in the series of move- 
ments for the mastery of a generalization is well 
called the step of preparation (of the learner's mind), 
and the need of it explains the reason for the 
peculiar title of the present chapter. 

Serious risks In ordinary practice this part of method is omitted. 

ihis^step'^^'"^ For instance, in beginning England, in a geography 
lesson, no time is occupied solely with recalling, 
collecting, and arranging old ideas as a foundation 
upon which the new must rest ; it is rather the 
custom to plunge into the new immediately. Even 
in literature, where the new selection is often intro- 
duced with remarks about the author, about charac- 
ters in the play, etc., this step is largely overlooked. 
But, if children are fairly well prepared for the 
studies which they are perusing, many related ideas 
will spring up of their own accord, whenever any 
topic is presented. Why, then, occupy time in 
recalling thoughts of the past, when they are likely 
to come without it } 
" The reasons are the following : — 

First, there is the danger of no understanding of 
the subject presented. For instance, many a child 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 93 

has committed to memory the poem " Excelsior," won- 
dering the while what it meant. The subject of 
scansion, already referred to, is another example of 
the same kind. Percentage is still another. Chil- 
dren are often mystified by the fact that, while 
there are so many fractions, those of a certain de- 
nomination called hundredths are singled out and 
greatly emphasized. The text-book, too, increases 
their perplexity by introducing the subject in a new 
chapter, as though it were quite different from what 
had preceded. As a result, they feel strangers to 
percentage and sometimes fail to find their bearings 
for a long period. 

Second, there is the danger that, even if children 
understand the ideas presented, they may feel indif- 
ference toward them. This is perhaps a more serious 
danger than the preceding. " Gray's Elegy," already 
referred to, furnishes an example. That poem is 
frequently finished before it is begun. That is, 
every stanza is understood by the child, and it is 
laid aside as completed work, without his ever hav- 
ing begun to enter into its spirit. Likewise, civil 
government, English grammar, and beginning Latin 
are often taught and finished without any good effect 
further than the possession of a certain quantity of 
knowledge. This is not true teaching. To the 
true teacher the child's sympathy with the subject- 
matter taught is an absolutely necessary condition 
for success. The pupil should always be able to give 



94 METHOD OF RECITATION 

a satisfactory answer to the question, " What is this 
subject to me ? " A genuine glow of feeling must ac- 
company facts that are to prove of permanent worth. 
A universal law is here involved. Though one 
come to understand a subject fairly well, he may fail 
entirely to appreciate it sympathetically ; but unless 
knowledge is really appreciated, it is not perma- 
nently valuable. In time past the great majority 
of teachers have acted as though the possession of 
knowledge and its appreciation were identical. The 
Sunday-school teacher, for instance, has taken for 
granted that, if she could impart a few Bible facts 
to her class, the children would be made more 
religious. Likewise, Shakespeare's dramas have 
been often taught with the presupposition on the 
part of the instructor that, if each word and each 
sentence were clearly comprehended, a love for 
Shakespeare and for literature would be engen- 
dered. There are few errors more serious. While 
one is learning to comprehend the Bible, or literary 
productions, or history, etc., an unfriendly feehng 
may be growing up which may result in dislike of 
the subject. And this is the feeling that is being 
aroused towards many subjects that are fairly well 
comprehended. That attitude of mind precludes 
the possibility of good. Both Froebel and Herbart, 
the two great educators of this century, urge the 
necessity of interest in the studies taught, and the 
importance of the development of tastes. If they 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 95 

are right, interest must be substituted for indiffer- 
ence or aversion. It can be developed through the 
establishment of a feeling of kinship each time 
for what is offered. And since this feeling of kin- 
ship is dependent, as has already been shown, upon 
consciousness of the close relation between the old 
ideas and those newly offered, it can be aroused by 
careful attention to past related experience. A few 
examples will make this matter clear. 

Let it be the aim of a recitation to study the most 
beautiful part of the Rhine River. If, without any 
preparatory step, we begin a description of the 
Rhine itself, serious difificulties may easily arise. 
The conversation soon turns to valleys and beauti- 
ful views ; it is this valley that is so beautiful. But 
children often do not remember having seen a val- 
ley, or, if they do, they recall nothing about it 
especially attractive. This may be true of teachers 
as well as of children. I was once instructor in a 
county institute where eighty teachers were present. 
Seventy of them declared that they could not recall 
ever having enjoyed a beautiful view. But the 
fact was that in the town where the institute was 
held there were several beautiful views, one of the 
principal avenues being entirely arched over with 
elms. Of course in both cases they had all seen 
the object talked about, and not being made con- 
scious of the fact, they had nothing to build upon. 
They felt no kinship for the subject in hand, and 



96 METHOD OF RECITATION 

hence a discussion of it could not appeal to them. 
As far as the Rhine River is concerned, most of 
those who are prepared for its study, both children 
and teachers, have not only seen valleys and streams 
and beautiful views, but they have heard of Bishop 
Hatto and the Mouse Tower, Bingen on the Rhine, 
the Lorelei, and perhaps they have even read " Seven 
Little Sisters." If these ideas were all called up as 
an introduction to the Rhine, they would create a 
feeling of kinship which would mean a live interest 
from the beginning. 

Again, suppose that we are to study that country 
in Europe in which William Tell is said to have 
lived. If the advance work is begun immediately, 
even though it can be comprehended fairly well, 
there is serious danger of comparative indifference 
on the part of pupils. But this danger is easily 
overcome by recalling what one has heard or read 
about avalanches and snow storms among the Alps, 
about Tell and other adventures, St. Bernard dogs, 
Swiss lakes and scenery, the experiences of Jean- 
nette in " Seven Little Sisters," etc. 

The third danger threatened by the omission of 
this preparatory step is that the subject under con- 
sideration may be only partially understood, or even 
misunderstood. Rousseau's story, related above, is 
a good illustration. It is not an uncommon occur- 
rence for auditors of a lecture to contradict one 
another flatly as to the purport of the lecturer's 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS Q/ 

thoughts. People approach whatever is offered them 
with the interests, preconceptions, prejudices, etc., 
that are pecuHar to them. Each one, viewing what 
is presented from his own point of view, naturally 
puts his individual interpretation upon it. It is 
necessary, then, that misunderstandings arise ; and 
school examination papers prove that they arise in 
abundance. Very few students are so accurate in 
all their observations and thinking that their past 
conceptions are a correct basis from which to inter- 
pret new ideas, and yet past experiences are the 
sole means for such interpretation. Therefore, it is 
plainly advisable for the teacher, in order to avoid 
mistakes, to call up, examine, and, when necessary, 
correct past related experiences before advancing 
into new subject-matter. 

From this discussion it follows that there is dan- 
ger at all times of poor instruction, when a distinct 
period is not set aside for preparing the child's mind 
to receive the new knowledge that is offered. There- 
may be either no understanding of the subject in 
hand, an indifference or aversion toward it, or a mis- 
understanding of it. The only safe course to follow 
is to anticipate such difficulties by careful prepara- 
tion. 

Many teachers, no doubt, would agree to the state- 
ments up to this point, but would object to this con- 
clusion. Instead of anticipating such difficulties, 
they would plunge into the new subject-matter 

H 



98 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



But why not, 
at least, delay 
considera- 
tion of past 
related ex- 
periences 
until it has 
been found 
necessary? 



immediately; then if any of the evils mentioned 
manifested themselves, they would correct them by 
turning back and recalling the necessary past ex- 
periences. This is the usual plan followed, and it is 
popular because it seems to save much time. 

But if related past experiences are to be called 
to mind at all, no time is saved by doing it late 
rather than early. Also, if such experiences are the 
sole basis for new knowledge, — as has been shown, 
— the latter has nothing on which to rest, until the 
former are present in consciousness. Consequently 
time is lost by the omission of the preparatory step. 
However, there is more than a loss of time involved. 
If children read "Excelsior" without interpreting it 
through many old and famihar thoughts, i.e. without 
interpreting it at all, they have not only sacrificed 
their time, but they have lost some of their zest for 
study. That kind of instruction dulls mental life 
and ambition. The injury is of the same nature if 
the given topic, as Gray's " Elegy," is comprehended, 
but is pursued with indifference or dislike. Finally, 
the situation is not improved when the subject 
taught is misunderstood, so that corrections are 
necessary. In each of these three cases the first 
impressions received are either unfavorable or wrong ; 
they must be erased and the work attempted again 
in a better way before good can result. 

Men and women in their contact with one another 
learned long ago the supreme importance of favorable 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 99 

and correct first impressions, and they consequently 
approach one another with the greatest care. When 
one man conceives a prejudice against another at 
their first meeting, a strong barrier to their friendship 
is surely raised. The proverb that " first impressions 
are most lasting " is accepted as a grave truth by 
the world of society and business, and teachers 
have abundant reason for reaching the same con- 
viction. The child who has gotten linear, square, 
and cubic measure well confused in his mind, is apt 
to be permanently weak on that topic. The high 
school student who has decided that he cannot 
understand specific gravity, is not likely ever to 
understand it fully. It may not be difficult to 
rescue such persons from their state of ignorance 
for a time, but the difficulty consists in making the 
rescue permanent. All these facts being so well 
established, it is astonishing how willingly teachers 
fairly tumble into subjects, leaving first impressions 
to mere accident. It is true that *' it is easy to tear 
down," but the truth applies to the corrections that 
one attempts to make, and not so much to the first 
impressions themselves. Progressive teachers are 
rightly throwing great emphasis upon a cautious 
approach to all topics of study. 

We have reached the two conclusions that new 
knowledge is interpreted through the old, and that, 
in order that this interpretation may be correct 
and effective, it is necessary to recall, collect, and 

LofO. 



100 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Precaution 
in regard to 
the prepara- 
tory step. 



arrange the past experiences bearing upon the topic 
under treatment. The dangers threatened by the 
omission of this step are so serious that it must con- 
stitute a part of the regular instruction. Now, in 
planning it, there are a few considerations that 
should have much weight : — 

Firsty the teacher should endeavor to call up as 
tnany related ideas as possible, especially those which 
are closely welded to the personality of the child. 
These latter are the strongest apperceiving notions. 
Being the ones that are most vivid and active, they 
can best estabUsh a feeling of kinship toward what 
is studied. 

It is surprising how little value book knowledge 
may possess for this purpose. One may have read 
or committed to memory a vast number of facts and 
still be stupid in his capacity for receiving or ap- 
perceiving new thoughts through them. Ordina- 
rily experiences that have occurred outside of the 
schoolroom are a surer apperceiving basis than 
those within the schoolroom — a proof that much 
school instruction is radically wrong. Arithmetic 
illustrates this truth. Although that branch is 
studied so much, the subject-matter is so taught 
that it often fails to become welded to the person- 
ality of the child, and hence it cannot act as a firm 
apperceiving basis for the comprehension and solu- 
tion of the ordinary arithmetical problems that life 
presents. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS lOI 

Even knowledge drilled into pupils at school by 
frequent repetition may give very little apperceiving 
power. The reason for this can be easily seen by 
recalHng the definition of teaching ; namely, the care- 
ful fitting of new thoughts to past experiences.. 
Frequent drill upon a point, or constant , verbatim 
repetition, makes no provision for this process of 
fitting some ideas to others. Such repetition is 
based upon a different conception of teaching; 
namely, that the connection between the old and 
the new, if necessary, is established by mere force, 
by frequent pounding. But daily repetition of the 
Lord's Prayer, while it familiarizes us thoroughly 
with a certain order of words, does not necessarily 
bring the meaning of the prayer any nearer to us. 
Many a man would be greatly surprised if his atten- 
tion were called to the real significance of the first 

' words, " Our Father," for he has never stopped to 
reflect upon them. The teacher, therefore, in plan- 
ning for full apperception, cannot expect to find 
strong support in many of those subjects which 
have been verbally memorized and frequently re- 
peated. Her strongest support will be found usually 
in the home experiences of the pupil, in the occupa- 
tion of the parents, in the subjects of conversation 
among them and the children, in the games among 
the latter, in books of travel, and in fact in any 
books that children have read of their own accord. 

\ All of these furnish ideas which become so thor- 



102 METHOD OF RECITATION 

oughly a part of the child's life that they are the surest 
foundation upon which new knowledge may rest. 

It is evident that success in this step of instruction 
involves an extensive knowledge of the child's home 
relations and of his individual nature; that is, his 
preferences, peculiarities, and feelings. From among 
these home experiences, and those of the school also, 
in as far as the instruction there has been good, 
many facts should be drawn which bear directly 
upon the advance instruction to be given. By call- 
ing up as many vivid experiences as possible, the 
feeling of relationship to the topic in advance will 
be closer, and therefore the teaching will prove 
more effective. For instance, children will be at- 
tracted to England after they recall facts such as 
the following : that the Pilgrim Fathers, John 
Smith, William Penn, came from England ; that 
Charles Dickens, the author of so many good stories, 
lived there; that sometimes their pocket knives, 
and very often the table knives, have "Sheffield" 
marked upon them ; that many of our names are Eng- 
lish, with New prefixed, as New England, New York, 
New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Bedford ; that some 
in the class have relatives or friends who have visited 
that country, and who have related certain incidents, 
etc. That is the skilful teacher who can designate be- 
forehand just how many things each child has known 
pertaining to a given subject, so that in a few minutes 
they may all be recalled. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS IO3 

The second precaution to be taken is, that no ad- 
vance work should be attempted during this prepar- 
atory step. One cannot well prepare for new knowl- 
edge by presenting what is new, just as he cannot 
erect a building while laying the foundation. There 
is always a temptation to move forward, and to offer 
new thoughts in the midst of the discussion of old 
ones. But the kind of mental activity required in 
this preparatory step is different from that required 
in the advance. In the case of England just referred 
to, the recalling of such thoughts taxes the memory 
rather than the ability to comprehend. One is called 
upon to survey his experiences in order to choose out 
those which bear upon a given subject. That kind 
of work must be done by itself. If, in the midst of 
it, new facts are frequently offered, they are a serious 
interruption. — Further than this, there would be dan- 
ger that the new and the old may become somewhat 
mixed in passing frequently from the one to the other. 
For instance, if children were collecting all the facts 
they knew about London, and the teacher were to 
allow some advance instruction in the midst of this 
work, there would be a temptation on her part to 
handle this latter as briefly as the former. Review 
points are naturally covered more rapidly than ad- 
vance, and there would be a tendency to the same 
rate of speed in the latter. It is always important 
for both teachers and pupils to know definitely 
whether they are reviewing or advancing, because 



104 METHOD OF RECITATION 

only in that case do they exercise a proper amount 
of caution in regard to speed. 

Another object of this separation is to fix clearly 
the limits of the pupils' knowledge upon the topic in 
hand. Whenever one sees definitely where his knowl- 
edge leaves off, a feeling of need arises, an appetite 
is generated for more; that is, a receptive frame of 
mind is produced, and one knows where new instruc- 
tion should begin. It is a serious fault with people 
that they are not sufficiently aware of what they 
know, and of what they do not know. The limits 
between the two are so hidden that often, although 
they know little they take it for granted that they 
know much. In consequence, they do not feel a need 
for instruction ; or the feeling of need, if present, is 
not specific, and hence it is difficult to know where 
to begin. No educator has ever been so keen as 
Socrates in appreciating the importance of fixing the 
exact limits of a pupil's knowledge as the condition 
under which he will be in a receptive frame of mind ; 
but the teacher also is benefited by knowing this 
limit for he knows then where his instruction ought 
to commence — a very important matter. 

Queries will often arise while pupils are recalling 
their knowledge about a certain matter, and they will 
often even fall into friendly disputes over it. For 
example, a room full of fourth-grade children in 
Chicago once became excited in discussing how the 
water reached the city from the lake, and what was 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS IO5 

the purpose of the water tower and engine. The 
chief result of the recitation consisted in the discov- 
ery, both on the part of the teacher and the children, 
that the latter did not know the things which they 
had supposed they knew, and the disputes that arose 
gave point to several advance lessons which were in 
prospect. The children were anxious to find out who 
were right in the sides taken, and these recitations 
were looked forward to as the answers to the prob- 
lems presented. Such disputes, therefore, are de- 
cidedly welcome. 

More than that, children may often run forward in 
thought and anticipate facts which will be presented 
later. That is quite desirable. Some anticipation of 
what is coming is one of the surest signs of good 
teaching, for it proves that children are in the spirit 
of the instruction given. Whether their expectations 
are realized or not makes little difference. Their minds 
are on the alert, and the outcome will be awaited 
with interest. Thus lasting impressions are assured. 
i^ The third precaution in this step is fully as impor- 
tant as either of the other two and, in fact, conditions 
the success of both ; it requires the statement of the aim. 
The attention of pupils must be centred quickly 
and fully on the work undertaken. They enter the 
class room with scattered thoughts, or occupied with 
the subject-matter of the recitation immediately pre- 
ceding. Unless skill is manifested by the instructor 
in calling up the ideas that are desirable and in 



I06 METHOD OF RECITATION 

excluding all others, the recitation is lame from the 
beginning. Commands will not accomplish this ob- 
ject. Even adults possess little ability through mere 
action of will alone to rivet their attention upon a 
certain topic to the exclusion of all else. Much 
less do children have this power. At the best the 
latter are able through the force of will to turn their 
attention to a given object for only a moment. If, 
then, the subject-matter itself does not continue to 
attract them, their thoughts quickly wander. But 
much teaching fails to secure this initial act of the 
will. Even though children sit bolt upright and 
direct their eyes to the teacher, their minds, like 
those of adults in listening to sermons, are often 
filled with matters wholly irrelevant to the topic im- 
mediately under discussion. Only as the recitation 
proceeds is the attention of one child after another 
caught and held by the facts presented, and only 
during the latter part of the hour is much momentum 
of thought attained. It would certainly be a great 
gain if closer attention and greater speed in thinking 
could be secured earlier, or even at the beginning of 
the recitation period. A proper statement of the aim 
of the recitation, worded from the children's point 
of view, can do much toward the accomplishment of 
this purpose. In acquiring knowledge, as in other 
occupations, the degree of attention given and the 
quantity of effort put forth are much influenced by the 
clearness and zest with which the aim is conceived. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS 10/ 

It is taken for granted that the teacher has a defi- 
nite object in view in each recitation ; the contention 
now is that the pupils also shall aim at something 
definite. The preparatory step which has been dis- 
cussed requires that they select all facts in their pos- 
session that bear on a given topic, and reject all else. 
They must do most of this work themselves ; the 
teacher can merely offer them suggestions. But 
unless they know in some way what the recitation is 
aiming to accomplish, they are ignorant as to what 
they should search for out of their past experience ; 
of course, then, they are helpless and must be led 
along blindly. 

A properly stated aim must fulfil several impor- character- 
tant requirements. In the first place, it must be con- p^piis- aim. 
Crete and not abstract. Enough has been said about 
abstractions or generalizations in previous chapters 
to show that they follow rather than precede individ- 
ual notions. They are empty and repellent until one 
has the concrete data upon which they depend. Con- 
sequently, the children should not be told that a 
recitation is aiming to explain some general truth. — 
However, this does not signify by any means that the 
teacher shall have no such aim in her own mind. 
As has been already stated, instruction culminates in 
generalizations, and the teacher must keep these in 
mind; but her purpose is a thing entirely separate 
from the aim which should be stated before the 
children. 



I08 METHOD OF RECITATION 

A Sunday-school teacher, in telling about Daniel 
in the lions' den, would hope ultimately to impress 
upon her pupils the general truth that God protects 
those who trust in Him ; but the object of the recita- 
tion which she would give to the class might well be 
" to find out how it happened that Daniel was thrown 
into a den of lions, and what came of it." This is a 
concrete statement and would naturally arouse the in- 
terest of children. Instead of saying that "we will find 
out to-day what per cent one number is of another," 
we could better give this problem, "A camel lives 
forty years and an elephant one hundred and ten 
years ; the age of the former is what per cent of that 
of the latter ? " Also, instead of the question, " What 
are pronouns } " which is abstract, aiming at a defini- 
tion, it would be better to set up the following object, 
" Let us see what words are used to take the place 
of Columbus in the composition you have written 
about him." In place of the question, " How do 
cities obtain their water .? " it would be better to ask 
(if one lived in Chicago), " Where does Chicago get 
its water, and how is it brought to the city .-* " In 
teaching the fable about the Lion and the Mouse, the 
teacher may properly aim to show to her pupils that 
little things may be of much help ; but her concrete 
statement might be, " Let us hear a story about how 
a mouse once saved the life of a lion." Thus the 
first requirement of a good aim is fulfilled by making 
it concrete. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS IO9 

The second important requirement is that the aim 
be definite. Little is accomplished by announcing 
" a continuation of the same subject." And a teacher 
fixes a very imperfect purpose before her class when 
she states they will study " About Bunker Hill," or 
" About leaves," or " About Spain," or '' About the 
union of our states." The following aims are much 
more desirable : *' How the Americans outwitted the 
British and drove them out of Boston," "Where 
leaves grow ; why they are so thin ; why they fall," 
etc., "Why nearly all the large cities in Spain are 
on the coast," " What prevented the union of our colo- 
nies from breaking to pieces at the close of the Revo- 
lutionary War." The advantages of the latter consist 
in the fact that they are definite enough to concen- 
trate attention upon a particular point. 

As far as possible one should state an object which 
can be accomplished within one recitation period, and 
consequently some of the aims just stated might need 
to be divided somewhat. For example, the one in re- 
gard to Bunker Hill might be stated thus: first, "Let 
us study the plan that the Americans adopted to out- 
wit the British and drive them out of Boston " ; second, 
" Let us see how this plan was executed." In each 
case the class would be expected to review the situa- 
tion in which each army was placed, etc., before the 
advance instruction begins : this would constitute the 
preparatory step. 

The third requirement is that the aim be shorty 



1 lO METHOD OF RECITATION 

simple, and attractive. Strange words would not be 
acceptable. Hence, with children, it would be better 
to ask, " How do leaves help the tree ? " than " What 
is the function of leaves ? " Also, " What changes 
does the caterpillar pass through ? " rather than 
**What are the metamorphoses of the caterpillar?" 
Of course the simpler the statement, the more easily 
it is understood ; and the shorter it is, the more easily 
it is reproduced. It is usually desirable that the chil- 
dren reproduce it at least once at the beginning of 
the recitation in order to make sure that it is under- 
stood. The attractiveness of the aims stated will 
depend upon the happy combination of what is famil- 
iar and what is new to the child. Here is a great 
opportunity for skill on the part of the teacher. The 
wording should be such that the class will feel at 
least partially acquainted with the topic and still 
strangers to such an extent that they will be desirous 
of learning more in regard to it. That aim is weak 
which does not awaken a feeling of need in the child 
for more knowledge. 

The several requirements of the aim, therefore, 
are as follows : it should be concrete, definite, sim- 
ple, short, and attractive. The fact may be well 
emphasized once more, that these are the require- 
ments of the aim which is to be given to the chil- 
dren at the beginning of the recitation. — Such a 
statement does not mean the giving of the rule first ; 
the rule is abstract, while the aim recommended is 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS III 

concrete. The teacher keeps the rule in mind, since 
the instruction should finally arrive at this result; 
but it would be unpedagogical for her to say any- 
thing about it beforehand to the children. — The 
form of the statement may vary, being either a dec- 
laration or a question or a problem. But whatever 
form it assumes, it should not reveal new facts in 
such a way as to deprive advance instruction of its 
interest. One can easily tell too much. For instance, 
in regard to the water supply of Chicago, he might 
declare it to be his aim, " to see how a tunnel brings 
water to the city and an engine pumps it into the 
tower;" or, the object might be, "to see how un- 
productive the interior of Spain is because most of 
the rain falls on the edge of the great plateau," or, 
"how we add fractions by making them ahke." 
These statements contain facts that should be re- 
vealed in the later instruction ; if stated at the be- 
ginning, they weaken the instruction which is to 
follow, just as the inadvertent telling of the point 
of a joke weakens the narration of the joke itself. 
The advantages of an aim that fulfils these condi- 
tions are manifest. It renders a recitation easy to 
conduct, because it furnishes a strong motive for 
work upon a particular subject. Children become 
eager to collect and present their related ideas. 

But there is scarcely a more difficult task in all why a prop- 
teaching than the preparation of an aim that fulfils pupirTaimis 
the few requirements named. difficult. 



112 METHOD OF RECITATION 

1. The teacher must comprehend clearly the study 
that she is teaching ; also, in planning each lesson, 
she must distinguish the essential facts from those 
that are comparatively trivial. The aim that is 
stated should direct attention to the central idea in 
a concrete way ; . such an aim cannot be conceived 
until the relative value of thoughts is determined 
and the real gist of the lesson perceived.^ 

2. The teacher must know the contents of her 
pupils' minds, their emotions, and so forth, before 
she can frame a statement that will appear to them 
definite, short, simple, and attractive. 

Advantages A good aim bccomcs a standard both to the chil- 
airn.^°° drcn and to the teacher for judging the worth of 
contributions by the former. Since this first step 
is necessarily conversational, there is always danger 
that the discussion will degenerate into a conversa- 
tion that aims at nothing and accomplishes nothing. 
But when all are conscious of a fixed aim, reference 
to it by the teacher or pupils will determine whether 
or not a certain thought is worth their attention. 
For example, if the class sets out to show how 
water reaches houses from the lake (in Chicago), 
the child who is eager to tell about the bursting of 
the water pipes in his home on a certain cold night 
may be immediately ruled out. This measuring of 
the relevancy of thoughts is an exceedingly valuable 
exercise for children ; it calls judgment into play. 
Also, the development of will is intimately involved 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS II 3 

in the fixing and attainment of an aim in each reci- 
tation. "Without aim, no will," is an important 
dictum of the Germans. That is, when one fails to 
see clearly what is at issue, he feels little incentive 
to exert himself. This thought was in mind in the 
assertion that a definite aim furnishes a motive for 
effort. But, further than that, if one daily sets up 
objects to be accomplished and is successful in 
reaching them, he falls into the habit of succeeding. 
The energy and perseverance that we show in over- 
coming new obstacles are greatly conditioned by 
such a habit. If, as we look backward in time, we 
recall the fact that it has usually been our lot to 
fail, courage evaporates. But if we see our past 
efforts crowned with success, self-confidence is great 
and energy is increased. Thus the past influences 
the anticipations and the results of the future. That 
instructor who daily leads her pupils to attain cer- 
tain ends agreed upon, is accustoming them to suc- 
cess ; she is developing in them a belief in themselves 
which will cause their will action to be energetic and 
persistent. 

We see the special importance, therefore, of re- 
peating the aim until it is clearly fixed as a purpose 
in the pupils* minds ; and at the close of the recitation 
it is important to compare the work accomplished 
with that aim. 

Omitting further discussion of the aim in partic- 
ular, one merit of this preparatory step deserves 



114 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Relation of 
preparatory 
step to re- 
views. 



still to be noted ; namely, it affords opportwiity for 
frequent reviews of the best possible kind. It is 
all important that children recall frequently any 
knowledge already acquired; otherwise it is likely 
to escape them. For this purpose reviews are often 
held at the end of a term, occupying one, two, or 
three weeks; or, if not then, they come during the 
term whenever any subject is completed. But in 
such reviews progress is so rapid that the work is 
less thorough than when the topics were studied the 
first time; their avowed object is not greater thor- 
oughness of knowledge, but merely the refreshing 
of the memory in regard to it. Such work is an 
injury. /Any review that takes place merely for 
the sake of review, and that does not require new 
thought, tends to check mental life : mere repetition 
for repetition's sake has a deadening effect. But 
how can this evil be remedied, since reviews are 
essential.? This step of preparation is a partial 
remedy, for it furnishes abundant opportunity for 
incidental reviews. In approaching any new sub- 
ject, as England, or the union of our country, or 
changes in insect life, or the battle of Bunker Hill, 
those familiar facts are recalled that bear upon it. 
They are not reviewed merely for the sake of review, 
i.e. without a motive on the part of the pupil, but 
because they are a valuable preparation for what is 
to come. Such work is full of interest. Children 
feel their strength when recalling an abundance of 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS II5 

experiences preparatory to later instruction ; their 
minds are on the alert. Any ideas that are closely 
akin to the subject are at a premium, whether they 
come from the study immediately under considera- 
tion, or from other branches in school, or from home 
experiences, from reading, from travel, etc. This 
careful scrutiny of one's stock of ideas with the pur- 
pose of selecting only a certain relevant kind means 
a review of the old from a new standpoint, with a 
new element in it that arouses interest; this is the 
only kind of review that should be tolerated ; as it 
is the kind that this preparatory step is continually 
bringing about, the latter should, for this particular 
reason, be highly valued. 

Since there is only one way to acquire knowledge, 
i.e. since all new facts can be interpreted solely by 
those already in our possession, it is evident that, 
in insisting upon this preparatory step, we are only 
demanding that a universal law of learning be ap- 
plied. If it is ignored, children will encounter much 
friction and hence will learn slowly and with little 
effect; if it is carefully applied, many of the artifi- 
cial barriers to their progress are removed, so that 
they advance thoroughly and rapidly. 

The amount of time that this step requires de- Timere- 
pends upon circumstances. In beginning the study preparatory 
of Spain it might not take more than five minutes step. 
to recall the facts that Columbus sailed from Palos, 
Malaga grapes come from southern Spain, bull- 



Il6 METHOD OF RECITATION 

fighting is the national sport, we were recently at 
war with Spain, etc. The time taken is dependent 
upon the number of things the pupils know. The 
introduction into England might easily occupy thirty 
minutes. Sometimes it will take even more time 
than that to collect what the class knows and to 
mark the limits distinctly between what they are 
certain of and what they are doubtful about. As a 
rule, the aim for any single recitation will cover 
both review and advance work, and the latter will 
begin as soon as the former is finished — as in the 
preceding examples. If a class were to set out to 
learn the products of Ireland, it might require fifteen 
minutes to collect the few familiar facts, i.e. that 
this is called the Emerald Isle, that Irish Hnens are 
famous, etc. ; then a fuller investigation of the rea- 
sons why this is so green an island, or why so much 
linen is manufactured here, would begin immediately 
and constitute the advance work. 

Now and then, as in literature, history, and, in 
fact, in most studies, the desired related experiences 
of the past come so easily and quickly into the con- 
sciousness of the children that the advance lesson 
may begin immediately. But when we recollect that 
they must pass very frequently from one study to 
another, and that, in so doing, they are required to 
direct their attention suddenly to a different sub- 
ject, we can appreciate the difficulty they find in 
collecting the desired facts and in entering into the 



versational. 



THE APPROACH TO INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS II7 

spirit of the lesson at once. On the whole, it is 
very unsafe to take for granted that the necessary- 
ideas are present ; it is ever wiser to take at least a 
glance at the foundation, and in most cases to ex- 
amine it closely, before proceeding to build upon it. 

The method here is entirely conversational; it Method con- 
could not be otherwise, since each child is merely 
offering whatever he can bring to bear. It is well 
to arrange the thoughts given under headings, and 
frequently at the close of the step to recapitulate, 
in order that the exact amount accomplished may 
stand out and the pupils may thus keep their bear- 
ings. 

This is often called the step of analysis as well as 
the first or the preparatory step. It is plain that 
this other name is in place, since in it the children 
are required to analyze the contents of their minds, 
or to separate a certain few ideas that bear on a 
special point from the many others which are in 
their possession. 



CHAPTER Vn 

HOW INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS SHOULD BE PRESENTED 

The first step prepares the foundation ; this second 
adds a portion of the superstructure. In the first, 
those thoughts that bear on a certain topic are sepa- 
rated from the other contents of the mind, hence 
that is called the step of analysis: in this second 
the new thoughts are united with the old, hence it 
is called the step of syiithesis. If the former has been 
successful, the latter will show the effects speedily. 
How prepar- Judged by common practice in teaching, the first 
sives time ^tcp involvcs great loss of time, for instruction usually 
here. commences with the second. But as soon as one 

begins presenting the new concrete facts, the effect 
of a good preparatory step shows itself by allowing 
much more rapid progress than is otherwise possible. 
The children, being able to comprehend the topic in 
hand, and being also interested in it, are much more 
on the alert than otherwise, and can digest more 
rapidly whatever is offered. Also it is unnecessary 
to interrupt the instruction by long explanations, and 
by detours to hunt up related experiences ; conse- 
quently the time is occupied more completely by the 
advance instruction. 

ii8 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED II9 

The same reasons hold for the statement of an aim Necessity of 
in this step as in the step of preparation. That is, ^^*^™* 
an aim will concentrate attention and furnish a mo- 
tive for active thinking. The fact that it makes the 
child conscious of the course he is pursuing, and 
thus prevents unexpected discoveries, is greatly in its 
favor. While it is an excellent thing to make dis- 
coveries, it is much better that they be dimly antici- 
pated than that they be entire surprises. Students 
of all ages should realize which way they are bound, 
and if they comprehend the situation so well that 
they foresee what is likely to come, it is a very 
encouraging sign. In fixing the aim the same pre- 
cautions should be observed as have been discussed. 

The form of presentation, that is, the way of get- Form of 
ting at the facts, may vary greatly. The children p'^^^*'" ^ ^°"* 
may hear a story and discuss it; they may read a 
selection, study a map, or a geography lesson, in the 
book ; they may examine and sketch a flower ; they 
may interpret and work out a set of problems in 
arithmetic, or perform a suggested experiment, or 
study the conjugation of a verb, or examine and 
discuss the objects of a science lesson freely with the 
teacher. So long, however, as the class is engaged 
in acquiring new and concrete subject-matter, it is 
always the second step of instruction. 

But while there is so much variety in the form of 
recitation, it is due rather to variety in the subject- 
matter taught than to difference in the methods 



I20 METHOD OF RECITATION 

employed. In the main, most subjects are treated 
according to one of three methods ; namely, accord- 
ing to the lecture, the text-book, or the developing 
method. 

1. The lecture method is followed extensively in 
college and university work, and to some extent in 
high schools. According to that plan, the teacher 
imparts knowledge directly, or tells the facts which 
the students are expected to learn. When it is re- 
membered that lecturing is synonymous with telling, 
it is evident that the method is not wholly unknown 
even to teachers of small children. They very often 
spend five, ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes telling 
thoughts from a Sunday-school lesson, or facts in 
geography, history, etc. 

2. Text-books have long been in vogue and are 
probably as popular to-day as ever. Recent years, 
however, have brought very great improvement in 
their use. There was a time when it was customary 
for children to learn verbatim the text in grammar and 
geography. It is needless to say that that work was 
destructive of the best qualities of mind. Subject- 
matter was often committed to memory that failed 
entirely to be understood, although a pretence to the 
contrary was made. In the main, it was the memory 
that was appealed to, rather than the ability to under- 
stand and appreciate. 

In more recent years a better class of teachers has 
required pupils to memorize only the substance of the 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 121 

thought, neglecting the form of expression in the 
book. They have often even discouraged similarity 
between the language of the child and that of the 
book, hoping thus to throw the chief emphasis upon 
the thought itself. 

A third class of teachers also require only the gist 
of the lesson, but instead of employing the recitation 
period for a mere reproduction of the thought, they 
occupy a good part of that time with discussion, so 
that the ideas presented in the book may be compre- 
hended and appreciated ; for example, after an out- 
line of facts in connection with the battle of Bunker 
Hill has been committed to memory, the events 
are discussed in detail in class until an accurate and 
vivid picture of the whole is constructed. Likewise, 
after the definition of the subject of the sentence, as 
presented in the grammar, has been carefully studied, 
numerous sentences are offered by the children and 
discussed until a fair understanding of the matter is 
reached. 

It is evident that this way of using text-books is 
much better than either of the other two mentioned; by 
it a greater interest is awakened, misconceptions are 
corrected, and more effective knowledge is acquired. 

3. The developing plan of teaching is one radically 
different from the lecture and the text-book methods. 
The teacher who employs it lectures but little to her 
class, although it is important to remember that she 
does tell some things outright ; neither does she 



122 METHOD OF RECITATION 

allow the facts that are to be learned to be first 
presented through a text-book ; she prefers to de- 
velop facts and conclusions by conversation with the 
pupils. The nature of this method and its difference 
from the text-book plan were suggested in Chapter 
II on illustrative lessons ; other examples will reveal 
its characteristics more clearly still. Fryc's " Primary 
Geography," page io8, states the following facts in 
regard to the British Isles : — 

"In the British Isles there are vast beds of coal 
and iron. Near these many great workshops have 
been built. People of the British Isles weave into 
cloth fully one-third of the raw cotton and wool raised 
in the world. They also produce one-third of the 
iron and steel. Their ships carry on one-third of the 
commerce. To the British Isles the United States 
sends cotton, grain, meat, tobacco, copper, and many 
other products. Which of these are needed for the 
workshops ? Which are used for food ? The British 
Isles send to the United States iron and steel goods, 
cotton, wool, and cloth, silk, and many other articles 
from the workshop. London, on the Thames River, is 
the chief .seaport and railroad centre of the British 
Isles. It is the largest city in the world. The greater 
part of the trade of the United States is by way of 
Liverpool, a city near the west coast. Scotland is 
noted for its iron and steel ships. They are built on 
the Clyde River near Glasgow." 

The text-book method allows these statements 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 23 

to be studied before the recitation period begins, 
and then to be talked over in class until they are 
sufficiently well understood and impressed upon the 
mind. In the developing plan the book would not 
be used at first; the following might be the nature 
of the conversation that takes place in the class, 
the teacher beginning thus : — 

IVfany years ago it was discovered that there was 
an abundance of iron ore in England (showing 
where). Also a great quantity of coal was found in 
certain places (use map). So much being true, what 
might follow ? When people have plenty of iron ore 
and coal, they can make pig-iron and all sorts of things 
from which iron is made ; for instance, nails, screws, 
hatchets, axes, ploughs, rails, locomotives, all sorts of 
machinery, cutlery, iron ships, etc. What effect 
would that have upon the number of people to be 
found in the region where these manufactories exist ? 
Large cities would spring up. Thus Manchester, 
Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Nottingham, and 
Glasgow, which you will find on the map. 

Since so many people are engaged in manufactur- 
ing, what would be done with the articles that they 
make .•* They cannot use them all at home. Then 
what will be done with them ? Some of them must 
be sent away to other countries. What, then, will 
be some of the exports of England ? Rails, engines, 
etc. Through what ports would they be Hkely to 
leave England.^ (Examine map frequently.) It 



124 METHOD OF RECITATION 

would depend upon the direction in which they 
were to be sent. If to Europe, they would go by 
way of Hull or London ; if to America, by way of 
Liverpool, or possibly Bristol. What effect would 
this commerce have upon the size of these ports ? 

If so many of the English people are engaged in 
manufacturing, and they send so many things abroad 
to America, for instance, what are some of the things 
that they are likely to need from us ? Food. What, 
therefore, would be some of their imports.^ Grain, 
meat, tobacco, etc. 

But England is an excellent country for grass. 
Can you tell why ? Because of the moist atmos- 
phere and frequent rains. A considerable part of 
the country, too, cannot well be cultivated ; can you 
tell why, from the map .-* It is too hilly and rough 
in the west. Yes, also in places it is too swampy. 
In many of these regions sheep are raised. What 
is likely to follow from that fact ? Much wool, much 
manufacture of clothing, since coal is abundant. 
Hence, increase in size of cities, in importance of 
ports, etc. ; clothing is one of the exports, etc. 

All of this conversation could best take place 
before the paragraph in the book is assigned as a 
lesson. 

Take an example from literature ; namely, from 
the story of Robinson Crusoe. Suppose that a 
point in the story has been reached where Rob- 
inson has been shipwrecked and is lying senseless 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 12$ 

upon the island near the water's edge. If the reci- 
tation begins at that point, it might proceed as 
follows : — 

When Robinson came to his senses, he stood up 
and looked about. What do you suppose he said 
to himself ? " Where am I .? " What would he do 
then.-* Recall what had happened. And further? 
Hunt for his companions. How would he hunt for 
them ? Look for them. And } Walk up and down 
the shore. More than that ? Shout for them. Yes, 
but he did not find them. What conclusion would 
he reach ? That they were all drowned. How do 
you suppose he felt ? Very sad. Had he any rea- 
son for feeling glad } Yes. What } His life had 
been saved. How might he show that he was glad } 
By kneeling down and offering a prayer of thanks- 
giving. And that is what he did. Then what would 
he do } He would hunt for other people, houses, 
etc. He did so, but he found none. As time passed, 
what else would he begin to think about.-* Something 
to eat and drink. What could he hope for if there 
were no people.-* Some wild berries, apples, etc. 
Where would he find them ? Growing in the woods, 
etc. But he found nothing. Finally, as night was 
coming on, what would he begin to think about.? 
Where he might stay during the night. And where 
could it be.-* He might sleep on the ground. But 
there was some objection to that. What.-* He was 
afraid some wild animals might find him. What else 



126 METHOD OF RECITATION 

could he do ? Build a hut ; go into a cave ; sleep in 
a tree, etc. Yes, the last is what he did. What kind 
of a tree would he search for, etc. } 

Thus the story may be taught from day to day, 
the children telling what might reasonably follow 
from a given situation. In this case the teacher 
needs to do very little except to put skilful ques- 
tions based upon a few given facts. 

Let another example be taken from history ; 
namely, the battle of Bunker Hill. Suppose that 
the class understands that the British are shut up 
within the city of Boston. The aim might be to see 
how the Americans outwitted the British and nearly 
succeeded in driving them out of the city. We 
recall the situation of Boston harbor, the Boston and 
the Charlestown peninsulas, etc. The teacher then 
tells the class that there was a hill over on Charles- 
town peninsula which overlooked the city. The 
conversation might continue as follows : a brilliant 
thought occurred to the Americans in connection 
with this hill ; what could it be ? That they would 
seize it. Why ? Because if they had possession of 
it, they could drive out the British. How } They 
could fire down onto Boston. But would they destroy 
their own houses ? — remember they built Boston. 
Yes, they would, if it were necessary in order to 
drive out the British. How would they go to work 
to carry out their idea ? They would take possession 
of the hill quietly. When } By night. Describe 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 12/ 

how. What would they do after reaching the hill ? 
They would throw up earthworks. Describe the 
earthworks. What question have you to put in 
regard to the British when it came morning.^ "How 
would the British feel when they looked up and saw 
the fortification there?" They would be greatly 
surprised and excited. What could they do? One 
of two things : abandon Boston, or capture the 
fortification. They decided to do the latter: how 
would they do it ? Send a body of soldiers over to 
march up against the fortification. This was done. 
As the British marched up the hill, would they go 
slowly or rapidly, and why ? What do you suppose 
the people over in Boston were doing ? Probably as 
many as possible were up on the tops of the houses 
to see what was going on. The British stormed the 
fortification, but were repulsed. How do you sup- 
pose the people in Boston acted when they saw 
that ? A second repulse followed. But on the 
third charge the Americans' powder gave out. What 
would follow? Who had won a victory? Why? 

This latter method is often employed in such a 
subject as language work. For instance, the chil- 
dren desire to write a composition, and some of them 
are inclined to omit the title or put it in the wrong 
place, etc. When this is the case, the following con- 
versation might take place : — 

Ought you to write any title for your composition, 
or not? Yes. Why? Because we want any one 



128 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



How meas- 
ure the rela- 
tive worth 
of these 
methods. 



who reads the composition to know what it is written 
about. Where would you put the title .? At the 
beginning. Good ; just where would you place it } 
Place it out by itself. Why ? So that it can easily 
be seen. Good ; what kind of letters would you use 
in writing it ? Large letters. Why ? Because they 
are plainer and can be more easily read, and so on. 
Good. 

Facts in regard to paragraphing and use of capi- 
tals, periods, margins, etc., can be easily developed 
in the same way. 

The developing plan has now been illustrated by 
examples from geography, literature, history, and 
language work. Several other examples are suggested 
later in Chapter XI. Before judging the relative 
merits of these three methods of teaching ; namely, 
the lecture, the text-book, and the developing methods, 
it is necessary to determine a standard according to 
which the worth of each may be measured. Happily 
this standard is easily obtained from suggestions in 
the preceding pages. Since teaching consists in fit- 
ting new ideas, feelings, etc., to those that are already 
at hand, or since it consists in dovetaihng the new 
with the old, or adjusting what the teacher has to 
give to what is already in the child's mind, that 
method will prove the most worthy which secures 
this desired adjustment in the highest degree. 

It should be remembered that, if the adjustment 
has taken place in the proper manner, the good 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I29 

effects must show themselves, />. mUrest is a.rousQd, 
the minds of the pupils are active in producing 
thought, they themselves even have questions to ask 
in class, and in expressing thought they use their 
own words rather than those of the teacher or of the 
text-book. 

Having now this standard of values, let us turn to This stand- 
the three methods presented. Lecturing ordinarily ^jthTfils't'^ 
consists simply in offering or telling. The instructor *wo methods. 
regards the mind as a granary or storehouse, and 
pours into it the desired knowledge. The learner is 
not the central thought of the teacher, but the latter 
directs his attention primarily to the knowledge that 
he is imparting. Consequently there is little ten- 
dency to adjust the new knowledge to what is already 
present in the pupils' minds. Past experiences count 
for little. Hence this method does not arouse a high 
degree of interest nor lead to mental life. Teachers 
who adopt it and fall into the habit of " telling " 
most of the facts that they desire to be learned, are 
a source of Httle inspiration. It is being abandoned 
to some extent even in our colleges. 

The text-book plan is essentially like the preced- 
ing. The difference lies in the fact that books 
appeal to the eye by the printed page, while the 
lecturer, or the one who tells, appeals to the ear. So 
far as the adjustment of the new to the old is con- 
cerned, there is less of it in the text-book than in the 
lecture. The lecturer, as he stands before his class, 

K 



130 METHOD OF RECITATION 

necessarily adapts his thoughts somewhat to his 
individual audience. But the text-book is intended 
for no individual audience. Any author of a com- 
mon school geography writes for the average child 
in the United States. He is as far from preparing 
the text for a certain child, or for the children in a 
certain community, as he can possibly be. 

Nevertheless, the third method of using the book, 
according to which the substance of the text is 
studied, and then carefully discussed in class, greatly 
remedies this defect; conversation affords opportu- 
nity for calling up related past experiences, correct- 
ing misconceptions, etc., and thus the new becomes 
adjusted to the old. For instance, pupils studying 
Barnes's description of the battle of Bunker Hill, can 
discuss it in class until they see a vivid picture, or 
they can enlarge upon his brief statement of the 
causes of the permanent union of our states until 
they have really entered into the spirit of the situa- 
tion. 

Hence, this method can excite interest and mental 

life, leading to much freedom on the part of the 

children or students in conceiving questions, and in 

using their own language in the expression of thought. 

Fuller mean- But the real qucstion under consideration is. What 

standar/as ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ method of instruction } While this use of 

suggested by ^-^e tcxt-book accomplishes much good, it may not 

arithmetic. <=» > 

be the best method there is. Indeed, that it is not 
ideal, is apparent when viewed in the light of facts 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I3I 

that are generally accepted in the teaching of mathe- 
matics. In arithmetic, for example, there are two 
parts to each problem, i,e. the answer, and the pro- 
cess by which the answer is reached. Answers in 
themselves — it is claimed -^- have little value; the 
worth of the study lies, first of all, in the process by 
which they are obtained. Further than that, the 
thinking necessary for the discovery of the right 
process, must be done, as far as possible, by the 
pupil. It is a serious violation of the law of self- 
activity to tell a child how to solve a problem ; he 
must solve it himself if he is to be much benefited. 

Is the case different when we come to geography, 
literature, history, etc. } That these branches of 
knowledge likewise consist of problems and their 
answers, cannot be doubted. For instance, the para- 
graph on the British Isles, quoted above, suggests 
several important ones, such as the following : — 

How would the presence of an abundance of iron 
ore and coal be likely to affect the occupation of the 
English people, and also the population of England .-' 
What are some of the exports likely to be in con- 
sequence } What the imports ? Why should England 
be a wool-producing country } 

In the part of the story of Robinson Crusoe that 
has been presented, the text offers the answers to the 
several questions : — 

What would Robinson first say to himself when he 
came to his senses } What would he then do } What 



132 METHOD OF RECITATION 

conclusion would he reach in regard to his friends ? 
How would he feel ? Where would he hunt for food ? 
How would he spend the night ? etc. 

The text in the history discribing the battle of 
Bunker Hill Ukewise answers a series of definite 
questions : — 

What plan to outwit the British might well come 
into the minds of the Americans when they began to 
reflect about Bunker Hill ? How would they execute 
that plan ? etc. 

Much of the text in ordinary school books presents 
answers to questions, just as the key to an arithmetic 
presents the answers to problems. Further than that, 
the answers to such questions are as easy of solution 
on the part of children as ordinary examples in arith- 
metic. Why, then, should the value of arithmetic be 
found in the sohitioit of problems, while that of these 
studies is confined to learning the answers to problems? 
Weakness of But the Ordinary text-book method, even where 
method re- thorough discussion is permitted, does not allow such 
veaied by fibertv to the pupil. Instead of permitting him to 

this standard. y r r r o 

weigh problems and suggest reasonable solutions for 
them, it offers the latter to him outright with the 
expectation that they be comprehended and learned. 
One result of this defect is that the knowledge 
lacks thoroughness because the problems themselves 
are largely omitted from thought. It is a very easy 
matter to overlook the chief questions involved in a 
given text. For instance, the author recently con- 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 33 

ducted a class through Herbert Spencer's *' Education." Result of this 

When the first chapter discussing " What knowledge ''^^^"^''• 

is of most worth "was finished, the students were 

asked to state the important questions answered. 

One of the most prominent thoughts in the text is that, 

since science is the most useful kind of knowledge, it 

should constitute the curriculum. This seems at first 

sight a strange and narrow conception on the part of 

Spencer, and has aroused much opposition. But when 

we understand that he includes very nearly all the 

school studies under the term science, the situation is 

not so bad. Undoubtedly one of the first questions 

to ask in this case is, What does Spencer mean by 

science } Without conceiving this question clearly, one 

can scarcely realize that he has received its answer, i.e. 

he does not comprehend what is said. Yet in a class 

of eight persons who average ten years of experience 

in teaching, only one seemed to have grasped it. 

Children and adults are alike in this matter ; they 
both easily omit from thought the questions whose 
answers they are supposed to be receiving. But they 
should see each problem, and they should even pon- 
der its solution for a while without aid, in order the 
more fully to realize what the question is, as well as 
their own weakness or need in disposing of it. Then 
they are ready for real appreciation of the answer. 
For example, in addition of fractions, children should 
for some time face the questions. Why make the 
fractions alike ? and How do it .? before answers are 



134 METHOD OF RECITATION 

decided upon ; otherwise they are too likely to learn 
the steps involved in the method without being much 
impressed with the essential thought at issue. So, 
after learning that England produces a great quantity 
of iron ore, it is well to allow the class a certain time 
to consider what should accompany this ore, i.e. coal, 
in order that it may be utilized ; likewise they should 
be given time to reflect upon the products following 
from iron and coal. If, before they have had time to 
think, they are told that iron ore cannot be worked 
without coal, and that the two used together can pro- 
duce steel, hatchets, engines, etc., they are in danger 
of accepting the facts without realizing the vital 
relationship between them ; in that case they omit the 
best part of the thought. In brief, if we zvant to make 
sure of real appreciation of knowledge, the facts offered 
must C07ne as answers to questions that have beeii co7i- 
sciously felt ; only in this way can a close adjustment 
of the new to the old be assured. 
This weak- But there is a more fundamental fault still in the 

fSse concept Ordinary use of texts. When a lesson is assigned in 
tion of child a book and then carefully discussed in class, the 

nature. 

tacit assumption is that the work of the pupil is to 
receive. He gets what he can by his own study of 
the text, then the instructor quizzes him in regard 
to it to make sure that he receives it correctly and 
that he receives all of it. Now, is it true that the 
one who is being educated is chiefly a receiver } Is 
that a high conception of education } Is not the 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 35 

child normally also a discoverer, a producer ? And 
should not the best method make abundant provision 
for self-expression, for outgoing, originating activity, 
as well as for passive impression ? 

Certainly before he enters school the child is 
exceedingly active as a thinker; he conceives an 
abundance of questions and as many answers ; it 
often seems, at least, that he divides his time about 
equally between questions and answers. To be sure, 
he receives suggestions of all sorts from persons 
about him, but this help is a minor factor in his 
mental life ; he is primarily a producer of thought. 
The kindergarten is based upon this truth, and the 
mission of the instructor there is not to tell the child 
facts, so much as to prompt him to produce thoughts 
that are facts. Thus we see one's employment before 
he enters school proper. 

After one leaves school and enters upon adult life, 
the situation is not changed. No matter what the 
position may be that he takes, he is still not mainly 
a receiver. Whether he becomes a teacher or a 
manufacturer or something else, his first duty is to 
conceive clearly what the problems are that confront 
him. Much of the time must still be occupied in 
thinking questions. The teacher must ask himself 
what his duties are toward the parents of his chil- 
dren, toward the children themselves outside of 
school, toward religious work in his community. 
He must ask himself if he intends to be a real 



r 



V 



136 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Student, and, if so, how he can best arrange to carry 
on study, etc. The manufacturer must go over his 
field in the same way, mapping out the problems. 
No one is on hand to tell either of them just what 
questions are involved in his peculiar situation. He 
may receive help on particular points from various 
quarters. Now and then an angry parent brings 
unexpected light as to a teacher's duty in a certain 
direction. But, in the main, each individual must 
depend upon himself to know when he has covered 
the field and has seen all of the important problems 
involved in his work. If some of them are omitted, 
he must suffer in consequence. Many a business 
man discovers too late that he did not ask himself 
questions enough in regard to a proposed project; he 
did not see all sides of it. 

After the problems have thus been marked out 
in thought, the solution of the same must be reached. 
Again, each one must depend upon himself ; he may 
receive help and advice, but he himself must decide 
whether the advice is good or not ; he must do his 
own thinking all the time, and his success is depend- 
ent upon the care and completeness with which it is 
done. 

So far, then, as the thought side of adult life is 
concerned, it is not essentially different from that 
of the child : each spends his time upon problems 
and their answers ; each, though he receives valuable 
facts from many sources, must conceive his own 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 3/ 

problems and his own answers. We find, then, that 
"j originality is natural to childhood and a necessity in 
f adult life ; each human being is by nature, and also 
L must be, a discoverer, a producer of thought. 

Now, proper preparation for life requires that those 
good qualities, that are natural and necessary, be en- 
couraged by training. Does the school now lead chil- 
dren to conceive questions and answers abundantly ? 
And, if not, how should it improve its methods } 

Suppose that a boy has passed through many text- 
books in the grades, the high school, and college. 
Suppose, even, that thorough discussion followed 
the study of the texts. Has he received abundant 
practice in mapping out the chief problems neces- 
sary to a certain topic .'* Has he had the same 
practice in reaching their solutions .'' And is he, in 
consequence, an independent thinker } Ordinarily 
the answer must be. No! Books are not planned 
with reference to this thought. The ordinary con- 
ception is that if one knows plenty of facts, he will 
naturally do the thinking necessary to their proper 
use ; hence, the books offer these facts. But the 
result is that the learner occupies his time in accept- 
ing ideas of other people rather than in giving forth 
ideas that have originated with himself. In that 
way education, viewed from the teacher's side, comes 
to mean putting in, pouring in, while the derivation 
of the word, e and dticere, means to draw forth, draw 
out. The learner, then, becoming a receiver, is 



138 METHOD OF RECITATION 

made relatively passive, while his nature and the 
needs of life require that he be intensely active. 

A hint as to a better method is given by the chil- 
dren themselves. When they are taken to a museum 
to see Indian relics, or when they are allowed to wit- 
ness simple experiments in physics, they dislike hav- 
ing to stand back and merely look on ; they have an 
insatiable desire to touch and handle the relics, to 
help arrange the apparatus. They are so consti- 
tuted that they can learn better if they are allowed 
this activity. — They show the same attitude toward 
thought materials. That is, when there are no relics 
or apparatus present, and when they are dealing only 
with thoughts in the presence of their teacher, it is 
still unnatural for them to stand back and merely 
behold the thoughts that she or the book presents ; 
they want to join in and help in the production of 
thought, and if this liberty is denied them, while they 
may learn a great deal, the amount is not what it 
might be, and is not welded to their personalities 
as it should be. 

Hence the conclusion is reached that even the text- 
book method that provides for much discussion is 
seriously at fault ; it contains mainly answers, thereby 
largely omitting questions. And these answers, many 
of which the child could discover for himself, are 
furnished to him before he has been allowed time to 
think them out himself ; it is, therefore, a systematic 
violation of the law of self -activity. But in order to 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 39 

comprehend thoughts, or to adjust the new to the old 
properly, one must conceive clearly the problems in- 
volved, and must reach these problems and their answers 
largely through his own effort, i.e. through his own 
self -activity. Inasmuch as the text-book method does 
not fulfil these requirements, it does not secure a high 
degree of adjustment of the new to the old. 

The third method under discussion, that of devel- The standard 

. , , T 111 11 applied to the 

opment, avoids these errors. It makes both problems development 
and answers prominent, and it puts the questions to "^^^^°^- 
the child before their answers have been presented. 
More than that, the child is expected to conceive these 
answers himself; he is systematically required to make 
discoveries, to judge what might reasonably follow 
from a given situation, to put two and two together 
and declare the result. Often, too, he finds it pos- 
sible to discover the leading questions involved, as well 
as their answers ; he must often state what should be 
the next question to be considered, and by practice in 
such thinking he becomes skilled in conceiving both 
problems and their solutions. Thus provision is made 
for adjustment of the new to the old by the large 
amount of self-activity allowed. 

Another valuable feature of the developing method 
is the fact that it provides for a close sequence of 
thought. Text-books ordinarily omit many of the 
necessary connecting links of thought. For instance, 
most text-books in United States history do not state 
clearly why the Americans wanted possession of 



140 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Bunker Hill. In the latter part of the Revolutionary 
War the fighting was removed to the South, but books 
often state the fact of removal without going into 
details and reasons. So it is usually : the text con- 
tains an outline of events or leading thoughts ; it is 
merely a text, i.e. it presents the chief topics with- 
out building the connections between them. It lacks 
space to do otherwise. The developing plan, how- 
ever, provides for short, connected steps in thought ; 
the children themselves are expected to take the steps, 
and hence there cannot be broad chasms between 
them. The result is that close series or chains of 
thought are established, and because they are thus so 

^ closely connected they are brought into intimate rela- 
tion with the child's way of thinking, i.e. the new is 
closely adjusted to the old. 

\ It should be remembered that the basis for the 
many judgments passed by pupils is their past expe- 
rience. Past knowledge furnishes the premises from 
which new conclusions are drawn, hence the relation 
of the new to the old is close indeed. We see really 
the spirit of the first or preparatory step carried into 
the second ; the developing or conversational method 
reveals the learner's doubts and thus makes constant 
provision for adjusting the new to what is already 
present. Of course, it is often difficult for pupils to 
enter into the spirit of a situation, and then they 
make ridiculous blunders. One little girl, when 
asked how Robinson Crusoe might secure more cloth- 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I4I 

ing, suggested that he would telegraph home. But 
the fact that the other children laughed, threw the 
desired emphasis upon the constant exercise of good 
judgment or good sense. But when pupils d© enter 
into the situation, they not only conceive reasonable 
answers to questions, but, as said above, they antici- 
pate the questions themselves. For instance, in the 
story of Crusoe, thoughtful pupils will name many of 
the chief topics that must be considered long before 
they are reached in the actual instruction. They 
must have entered into the spirit of the story to do 
this, and to be in the spirit of any subject means real 
apperception. 

Experience shows that the developing method can 
excite much interest and thoughtfulness, and secure 
from the pupil a frank expression of his opinions and 
doubts. Indeed, his teachableness, or desire to reach 
the truth without thought of self-exposure and artificial 
rewards, is admirable. 

Of the three methods of teaching under discussion, The best of 
this last is undoubtedly the one by which the closest ^^^J^ree 

J . . methods. 

adjustment of the new to the old with the accompany- 
ing benefits is secured ; it is consequently the best. 
This is the method that was employed by Socrates. 
He was convinced that the human mind could dis- 
cover much truth through its own energies, provided 
the instructor knew how to guide it properly ; accord- 
ingly, teaching meant to him not the telling of what 
the instructor knows, but rather the asking of such 



of its use. 



142 METHOD OF RECITATION 

questions as will call up previous experience, guide 
the thought of the student, and draw him out (edu- 
cate) to a free expression of his own ideas. The new 
conclusions reached in the course of the conversation 
constituted the knowledge acquired. 

Notwithstanding the superiority of the develop- 
ing method, some facts advise strongly against any 
attempt to make exclusive use of it. 
Limitations In the fivst place^ not everything can be developed. 
Beyond doubt there are many facts in every study 
that should be reached through discussion rather 
than told outright. But there are also many in 
some studies that could not possibly be so reached ; 
and there are others that, although they could be 
developed by considerable ingenuity, are better told 
outright. Hence, any one who makes exclusive use 
of this method has become an extremist. 

In the second place^ this is an extremely difficult 
method to follow. Just as the sharpest tools must 
be handled with the greatest care, so this plan of 
teaching must be skilfully applied, otherwise aston- 
ishingly meagre results or even serious injury may 
follow. On that account inexperienced teachers 
should not attempt to make use of it exclusively, 
or even mainly ; they should accustom themselves 
to it slowly, making trial of their strength here and 
there as opportunity offers. 

Thirdly^ the intellectual treasures of the past lie 
locked up in books. Proper school training unlocks 



i 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I43 

this storehouse by accustoming one to their intelli- 
gent use. Hence, books must be in constant use 
in the schoolroom, and even text-books must occupy 
a prominent place there. It follows from these facts 
that neither the text-book nor the developing plan is 
worthy of exclusive adoption, but that each should be 
accepted to some extent. The former is especially 
necessary to primary and intermediate grades. For, 
if children in these early years learn how to think 
through oral instruction, they can carry this thinking 
power over into books. But the method of discus- 
sion is also greatly needed in grammar grades, and, 
in fact, throughout later education. 

A careful examination of the developing method How the text- 
convinces us that the right kind of conversation is development 
the best means of thoroughly welding new thoughts methods may 

be combined. 

and feelings to those already in the child's posses- 
sion, and an examination of text-books shows that 
they tell many things that could far better be dis- 
covered by the children without the aid of any book. 
Hence, conversation for the sake of developing facts 
should be prominent in all school instruction ; and 
since text-books, if used to introduce the topics, 
would often deprive this conversation of its point, 
their perusal should in such C2iSQs follow rather than 
precede the discussion itself. The last statement is 
a very important one indeed. It is a mistake for a 
history text to introduce a class to the French and 
Indian War by naming the "five objective points," 



144 METHOD OF RECITATION 

when the class itself, by taking thought, could locate 
approximately the chief points where fighting would 
take place. Further, if children are prepared for 
their work, they know that fractions must be alike 
before they can be added; they can anticipate some 
of the dangers accompanying Midas's golden touch ; 
they can state many of the evil consequences of our 
lack of a national coinage system. In such cases it 
is well to pause in the use of the book in order to 
give them time to conceive their own thoughts first, 
and thus do original thinking. In some studies reci- 
tation after recitation can well employ only the de- 
veloping method ; this is notably the case with Crusoe 
in the second or third grade, with much of the nature 
study throughout the grades, with pedagogy in the 
university, etc. In other subjects, as in history, 
geography, arithmetic, etc., where text-books are 
necessary, discussion can both precede and follow 
the study of the text on a given point; in either 
case it might occupy only a few minutes, or a whole 
recitation period, or even more, according to the na- 
ture of the subject-matter and the ability of the chil- 
dren and of the teacher. When a whole chapter has 
been practically developed in class, it is still well to 
turn to the book in order to review and summarize 
what has been accomplished; hence the book is of 
great value even where most of the time is given to 
development. 

From these remarks it is clear that we do not 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I45 

advocate using the book entirely or giving it up 
entirely ; on the contrary, the text-book and the de- 
veloping method can be employed together and 
alternate with each other as occasion demands. 
School instruction should certainly culminate in 
the ability to use books properly, but that does not 
necessitate abundant use of text-books, especially 
early in school life, or even exclusively at any time. 

One defect with many people is due to the fact How the use 
that they began text-books so early in school and fol- pro^e^iniurt^ 
lowed them so closely that they never learned to dis- °^^- 
tinguish their own thoughts and opinions from those 
of books ; in fact, they are scarcely aware that they 
have opinions of their own. Yet one of the prime 
requisites in judging the worth of books is a con- 
sciousness of, and belief in, one's own opinions. 
Even a child must possess the intellectual self-confi- 
dence of a critic in order to comprehend and weigh 
a text, and this requires an extensive development of 
the self. Nothing is more striking in the young child 
than this native self-respect. He rejects whatever 
fails to appeal to his own good sense, though he 
readily submits to all legitimate authority. Instead 
of encouraging this natural robustness, which is 
later essential to true scholarship, the school often 
almost extinguishes it by the weight of imposed in- 
formation through books. Many persons would be 
much stronger if they had been often entirely freed 
from books and had had much daily exercise in 



146 METHOD OF RECITATION 

expressing their own thought entirely untrammelled 
by remembrance of any text. With children espe- 
cially there is always the danger that an extensive use 
of text-books in school may result in slavery to books 
or loss of independence in thought, rather than in a 
mastery of books and ability to use them properly. 

The above considerations are particularly important 
here because they affect one's attitude toward discus- 
sion as a means of teaching. Books must be provided 
for ; they may be used to review ground covered in 
conversation, to continue investigation of topics that 
have been already introduced and partially treated, 
or finally, among older pupils, to further information 
and increase culture generally. But from what has 
been said, discussion should be prominent in all good 
teaching, from the kindergarten through the uni- 
versity, for it is essential to the preservation of inde- 
pendence and originality. With the understanding, 
then, that the developing and the text-book methods 
are to be combined, but that discussion is always to 
be prominent, we proceed to consider how the latter 
might be conducted. 
Safeguards Sincc, as declared above, it is by no means 
wanderint' . easy to lead a discussion properly, some of the 
discussion, general rules that would keep it within bounds and 
render it effective are necessary. The most seri- 
ous danger is that conversation may wander^ so that 
pupils will feel lost and nothing definite will be 
learned. But there are several important safeguards 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 47 

against this danger. H\\^ first is a clearly defined aim 
stated to the class. If both teacher and pupils set 
out to reach an end definitely fixed, they are able to 
measure by it the relevancy of any thoughts sug- 
gested. Quite often the teacher can protect herself, 
when a child makes a suggestion without reference 
to the topic under treatment, by asking the class, 
" What did we set out to accomplish ? Will the 
suggestion just given help toward that end } " If 
the class reply, " No," the difficulty is immediately 
overcome. Such treatment of wandering thoughts 
is very valuable, too, for thereby all the pupils are 
drilled in measuring the relevancy of their ideas. 
They are trained to select with care the suggestions 
that may prove helpful — thus their judgment is 
exercised by a study of relative values ; hence a 
clearly stated aim is of worth whether we wish to 
occupy only ten minutes or a whole recitation period 
in developing one or more thoughts. 

Aside from an aim, the teacher will also be greatly 
aided by a clear outline of her pivotal questions. If 
she reaHzes what her two or three or four main prob- 
lems are for a thirty-minute period, she has practically 
three or four sub-aims in mind, and they will keep her 
upon the right road in the subdivisions of the recita- 
tion, just as the large aim for the entire period guides 
her for the whole recitation. A clear statement of 
the leading questions on a given subject is essential 
to the fullest preparation for teaching it. Very often 



148 METHOD OF RECITATION 

good instructors prepare for class work by arranging 
their subject-matter in topics and designating each 
by an appropriate heading. But a great amount of 
indefiniteness may be concealed under mere headings. 
The division of a subject into topics, with a suitable 
name for each, can be made by one who possesses no 
skill whatever as a teacher; but the proper wording 
of the corresponding questions that would actually be 
put in class cannot be given by such a person — that 
requires an intimate knowledge of children's interests, 
of their vocabulary, etc. This means that the method 
of treating a subject has not yet been determined 
when one has decided only upon his topics. Training 
teachers in the model departments of normal schools 
receive remarkably little information about the actual 
method to be employed by student teachers, when 
the latter present to them only a careful outline of 
the subject-matter to be taught. The difficulty here 
involved has been already suggested in the discussion 
of the aim of the recitation. In that connection it 
was stated that the aim might often take the form of 
a question or problem, and it was shown by example 
how difficult it was to find a suitable wording for it. 
But, as in the case of the aim, so here, the rightly 
worded question plants a topic within reach of the 
children, within their experience and interest. Here 
we see again how adjustment of the new to the old is 
secured. 

An example may make the matter clearer. In 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I49 

the study of the sugar maple the chief headings 
might be shape of tree^ rooty stem, leaves, etc. Some 
of the minor ones might be the color and form of 
the leaves, the density of shade, the superiority of 
the hard maple over the soft maple, etc. But with 
such headings little preparation has been made for 
actual teaching, for no suggestion is given thus far 
as to how these matters will be broached in the pres- 
ence of the children. Since the facts cannot best be 
told to them outright, some question must be con- 
ceived which will be broad enough to include several 
facts and sufficiently suggestive to provoke thought. 
Let this be the one : What reasons can you give why 
the hard maple, or sugar tree, is so well liked by us 
all } The replies will come that it is beautiful, the 
color of the leaves is so green ; also, that the shape 
of the tree is pretty, it is so regular, or symmetrical. 
Further than that, on hot summer days it gives an 
excellent shade, denser than that of many trees, for 
instance, the soft maple. This is partly because the 
leaves grow on the stems in the middle of the tree, 
as well as outside where the sun can easily reach 
them. Also, the tree can endure more than many 
other trees. The wood is harder than that of the 
soft maple, hence the name hai'd maple ; and the 
tree branches differently from the soft maple, so 
that heavy winds, sleet, etc., are less likely to break 
and tear it to pieces. 

If this part of the recitation proves especially in- 



150 METHOD OF RECITATION 

teresting and profitable, it is to a great degree because 
the leading question is broad enough to include sev- 
eral answers under it, and is so stated as to elicit 
much thinking. 

Further questions might be the following : Where 
does the tree get its food ? What part of the roots 
acts as mouths for receiving the food ? If the little 
hairs are so important, what suggestion would you 
make about transplanting the trees ? Where, then, 
could the water be best poured for watering trees ? 
Why are these roots and rootlets so knotty and 
irregular ? Where does this water go that enters 
the roots ? Through what part of the trunk does it 
pass ? Why are the leaves so thin and broad ? How 
can the leaves prevent too much evaporation ? Why 
are the petioles of different lengths ? 

The fact that it requires very careful thinking to 
word such questions as these, even after one is well 
acquainted with his subject-matter, is proof that they 
are an important advance upon the arrangement of 
a subject by mere headings. But the teacher who 
aproaches her class with that preparation, i.e. with 
her questions clearly marked out, is partly protected 
from wandering. A proper question requires a defi- 
nite answer, while both the amount of matter included 
under a heading and its nature are uncertain. Con- 
sequently both teacher and pupil are more likely in 
the former than in the latter case to know when they 
are on the right track and when they have finished. 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I5I 

A third important safeguard against wandering is 
closely connected with this one. If the prominent 
questions that compose the outline form a necessary 
sequence^ a teacher is much more likely to be re- 
minded at the right time of what ought to come next 
than would otherwise be the case. A great law of 
teaching is here involved. Applied to the single rec- 
itation, it is often referred to as the law of sequejtce. 
According to it, a lesson is by no means fully pre- 
pared when the teacher has fixed in mind several 
topics that she wishes to cover ; she may even have 
stated these topics in the form of definite questions ; 
but preparation is still very defective unless these 
questions are brought into a very close sequence, 
either logical, or causal, or at least natural. In fol- 
lowing the topical method in United States history, 
teachers often take the events of an administration 
as the chief points to be considered ; but it happens 
not seldom that there is no close sequence between 
these points, and hence the law of sequence is violated. 
In the preceding examples of the developing plan of 
teaching, the leading questions in regard to England, 
and in regard to the sugar tree, were arranged, so 
far as possible, with reference to this principle. 

Let another instance illustrate this point further. 
Suppose the fifth grade in geography has learned 
that a very large part of Spain consists of a plateau 
with low land around the edges ; the series of ques- 
tions following may form a close sequence. If the 



152 METHOD OF RECITATION 

plateau is so high, what must be the effect upon the 
moisture-laden winds that rise over the edge of the 
plateau ? Since a large portion of the rain will fall 
upon the edge of the plateau, what about the interior 
of this highland ? If little rain falls upon the interior, 
what about the size of the rivers, the abundance of 
grass, of woods ? If the rivers are small, etc., what 
about the population of the interior ? It is plain how 
such a closely connected series prevents wandering ; 
for, when it is once begun, it is very easy to proceed ; 
each question reminds the teacher, and often the 
children, of the thought that should be next consid- 
ered, and hence there is little temptation to wander. 
Thus far tJiree safeguards have been suggested to 
prevent the danger of wandering, i.e. a clearly fixed 
ainty an outline of topics in form of questions, and a 
close sequence among the questions. The presence of 
this aim and of such questions in sequence invites 
both teacher and pupils to measure the worth of all 
contributions from the latter and to reject what is ir- 
relevant. 
How reviews In addition to these three means of protection it is 
wandering advisable to require frequent detailed reviews and 
summaries. The reviews might take place every 
ten or fifteen minutes, according to the ability of the 
class in this direction, and the summaries would come 
less often. Reviews and summaries call for reflec- 
tion in regard to the ground that has been covered ; 
and, if the conversation has been wandering, the 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I53 

participants are likely to be made conscious of the 
fact. The instructor, at least, will be placed upon 
her guard. They are made very easy, too, if, as im- 
portant thoughts were presented, brief headings for 
the same were placed upon the board. Some of the 
better scholars should first be called upon to repro- 
duce all that they can without interruption. Then, 
after necessary corrections are made, others should 
follow : thus the demands made upon each are tem- 
pered according to his strength. 

A very important principle of teaching is involved why sum- 
in such summaries, and it applies as much to text- especially 
book instruction as to the developing method. In ii^poJ^ant. 
each there is a tendency to become so immersed in 
details that general bearings and larger issues are 
lost. This is seen in history classes that take " seven 
pages in advance and seven in review," but never 
find time to do more than memorize each day's 
lesson ; it is seen in all studies where the advance is 
so constant that students do not halt to breathe and 
look about them to see the main steps that they have 
taken. This principle is sometimes known as the 
law of absorption and reflection. According to that 
law there are two kinds of mental activity required 
in study. The student employs the first when he 
becomes absorbed in the study of individual facts. 
He gives himself to certain details to such an extent 
that attention is entirely withdrawn from other groups 
of ideas. He employs the second when he withdraws 



154 METHOD OF RECITATION 

his attention from this one series of facts and directs 
it to a much wider range of thought ; when he rises 
high enough to take a broad survey of the field that 
he is studying and to see the relationship of principal 
topics to one another. 

In travelling one often crosses a valley, then ascends 
a hill ; one crosses another valley, and then ascends a 
mountain, etc. There are heights and depths in study 
as well as in travel. The student should plunge into 
details, and he should rise again to a point where he 
can see the ground that he has covered, both that of 
the day, and often that of the preceding week, or 
month, or term ; that is, he should rise to a point 
where he can secure a broad view. In other words, 
he should have periods of absorption and of reflec- 
tion, and these two should alternate just as do hills 
and valleys. In any recitation period provision 
should be made for this variety of thinking, so that 
after a very careful study of details a general survey 
of the whole may be secured. Summaries should 
be planned in accordance with this demand. If the 
class is making rapid progress, there could well be 
two or three summaries within thirty minutes as the 
outcome of more detailed reviews. By that means 
children obtain a frequent view of a long stretch of 
the road that they are pursuing, and thus keep in 
mind both the general direction in which they are 
travelling and the principal points passed. 

This law of absorption and reflection is sometimes 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 55 

called the law of 'me7ital respiration. Just as we alter- 
nately inspire air and then expel it, so absorption in 
details and reflection in regard to them should alter- 
nate. The perspective thus secured affords valuable 
aid in the proper classification of one's knowledge. 
If, after having studied for fifteen minutes, a pupil is 
required to give a heading for the matter covered 
and to recall the gist of the thought ; and if the same 
thing is done for the work of the hour as a whole, for 
that of the week, month, etc., — if this is done, he is 
allowed to withdraw far enough from particular facts 
to distinguish which are relatively unimportant and 
which are of the greatest value. Ordinarily in the 
progress of the study of details there is not sufficient 
opportunity given to distinguish their relative values. 
Children are too immediately occupied with them, 
that is, they are too close to them. But when at fre- 
quent intervals pupils look over the territory travelled, 
they have an excellent opportunity to view the differ- 
ent points in the right proportion. Thus we see that 
the classification of knowledge is secured and the 
danger of wandering avoided by the appHcation of 
this law of absorption and reflection. 

But in all teaching where attempts are made to Danger of 
dispense, to a considerable degree, with text- books, fiJ^the^' 
there is danger of trying to develop things that can remedy, 
never be developed. For instance, suppose that a 
teacher remarks to a class, " Let us talk about a cer- 
tain bird. Can you tell me what one I have in 



156 METHOD OF RECITATION 

mind?" In that case she is putting to the children 
a question that they have no means of answering. 
They may name all the birds they know and finally 
hit the right one ; but it is not instruction in which 
anything is unfolded or developed ; it is no real 
instruction at all, but only an injurious exercise in 
guessing. But the conversational plan of teaching 
aims to develop the jtidgment of pupils ; hence the 
questions asked must be of such a nature that they 
may reasonably be expected to answer them. If the 
teacher asks the third grade in what manner Crusoe 
might salt the rabbit that he caught, she should do 
so with the belief that a reasonable amount of think- 
ing on their part will produce a certain reasonable 
reply. To be sure, they know nothing about any salt 
mine on the island, but they know that the sea is salt, 
and if some one replies, as was the case in one class, 
that Robinson would dip his meat into the salt sea, 
or that he would allow some sea water to evaporate 
and use the salt left, the answers should not be unex- 
pected by the instructor. But when pupils lack data 
from which to draw a reasonable answer, the ques- 
tion should not be given. As a rule, no answer should 
be tolerated for which a fairly good reason cannot be 
offered. We see, then, that the developing plan is 
dangerous in that it very easily encourages the ten- 
dency to guess, and thereby encourages thoughtless- 
ness instead of good sense. Where teachers are in 
much doubt as to the possibility of developing a 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 57 

thought, the safer plan by far is to tell it frankly or 
approach it through a lesson assigned in a book. 

A careful study of children will gradually reveal Precaution 
to the teacher what is probably capable of develop- aftempting to 
ment. In times past teachers have undoubtedly erred fieveiop too 

much. 

in supposing that almost everything new must be 
given to the child in order to be comprehended and 
learned; hence their immediate resort to "telling" 
and to text-books. It has been the intention in the 
numerous examples given above to show that much 
can be unfolded through conversation, but not all. 
In connection with England the fact was given 
that an abundance of coal and iron ore was found 
in that country. That being the case, it was asked 
what might follow. The children, knowing that 
Crusoe had been shipwrecked and lay senseless 
upon an island, were asked what he would be likely 
to say and do when he came to his senses and stood 
upon his feet. It was told to the class that a hill 
unoccupied by either the British or the Americans 
overlooked the city of Boston, and the children were 
asked to suggest the plan that might occur to the 
Americans in regard to it. Thus, even in these 
instances, although many things can be developed, 
some must be told. In other topics it is often nec- 
essary to tell much more or to make much use of the 
text-book. In all studies the teacher must see that 
the children are brought into possession of the neces- 
sary facts, before they are required to put these facts 



158 METHOD OF RECITATION 

together in order to work out a solution. It is a 
shrewd teacher who can discriminate between those 
truths that are necessarily preliminary to the prob- 
lem, and those that can be reasoned out. But he who 
disregards this distinction is in danger of making a 
farce of development work. Aside from all this, it 
is well to remember that some subjects, such as 
beginning reading, writing, and spelling, are arbi- 
trary or conventional in nature, and on that account 
allow only a small amount of development. 

Although it is often declared that the world has 
made its progress by passing from one extreme to 
another, yet we should guard against going from the 
old plan of telling all to the new plan of developing 
all. This precaution is all the more important when 
the fact is recalled that the new convert to the devel- 
opment method usually makes too much use of it. 
Is this Some teachers oppose the conversational method, 

in whole or in part, because it consumes a great deal 
of time, or is too slow. They argue that so short a 
time is spent in school that it is necessary to cover 
ground much more rapidly. But let us see what 
are the causes of this slowness. In the first place, 
as we have seen, the children themselves are to con- 
ceive some of the problems from day to day in each 
study, and they are to find solutions for a large 
number of them. The law of self-activity requires 
that they do this work rather than have it done for 
them. Hence, although it occupies much time, it can- 



method too 
slow? 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 59 

not properly be omitted. — Second, the develop- 
ing plan of teaching allows the expression of any 
doubts, misconceptions, objections, etc., on the part of 
the children or students. These need to be satisfied, 
or shown to be false. That also takes time, but the 
law of apperception requires time for such things, 
in order that the new may really be welded to the old 
in a proper way. The destruction of wrong notions 
is just as necessary a part of good instruction as the 
presentation of correct ones, although the former is 
not usually summed up among the positive benefits 
of a recitation. Hence, while such discussion occu- 
pies much time, it also cannot properly be omitted. 
— Third, the developing plan requires that many 
links be inserted in the chain of thought that would 
be ordinarily presented, so that there may not be 
any broad chasm between any two points. The law 
of close connection or close sequence in thought re- 
quires the insertion of many facts, so as to present 
a situation that is fully and easily comprehended. 
Hence, although this also requires much time, it can- 
not properly be omitted. 

We see, then, why the developing plan of teaching 
requires much time, for these points mentioned cover 
the chief characteristics of that method. But which 
one of them ought to be omitted in order to save 
time and cover ground more rapidly.-* If no omis- 
sions are in place, then the method is not too slow. 

To be sure, compared with the progress ordinarily 



It. 



l60 METHOD OF RECITATION 

whatthor- made by the text-book method, this other way is 
me^ns^a^nd extremely slow. But any one will admit that ordi- 
howto secure narily we pass over subject-matter altogether too 
rapidly, and we should bear in mind that real prog- 
ress is to be measured not by the ground appar- 
ently covered, but rather by what the child actually 
gets in such a way as to make it his own. Teachers 
are too often inclined to hurry, measuring their prog- 
ress by the amount covered ; but if the rate of 
progress were determined by what the child really 
digests, we should necessarily proceed very much 
slower, for it takes a large amount of time properly 
to digest a single important thought. This can be 
seen from the fact that there are several stages in 
the assimilation of a thought. First, it must be seen 
clearly from a single side, then it can be recalled by 
the memory with some effort. After it has been 
seen from several sides, however, one really begins 
to feel the force of it ; then it can be recalled by the 
memory with some ease. Only after it has been 
seen from many sides are we able to recall it with 
such ease and feel its force to such a degree that we 
can begin to use it, and it is even some time after 
that before we begin to use it with ease and feel that 
it is fully our own. Now, much instruction consists 
in giving a single view of an important thought. 
That is seen in lectures. A lecturer often presents a 
thought clearly in a few sentences, and then moves 
on. An attentive audience sees the thought clearly 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED l6l 

for an instant, and then something else takes its 
place, and the great danger is that even in an 
excellent lecture one will be given only glimpses of 
fine things. But the only condition under which any 
topic is really digested is that the mind dwell upon it 
for a long time. It must be looked at from one side, 
and then another, and then another. It must be 
reflected upon at length, in order that one may be- 
come saturated with it so that it seems a part of him. 
The developing plan of teaching, by allowing 
different persons to be heard from and to express 
their thoughts from different points of view, provides 
the necessary time for the mind to dwell upon a 
matter and see it in various lights ; in other words, it 
provides for real digestion of thoughts. When we 
reflect that probably nine-tenths of the information 
acquired in school is forgotten, and that only a por- 
tion of the remaining one-tenth has really been di- 
gested in such a way as to be a power within us, the 
need of a slower method of instruction becomes 
apparent. If we were to cover ground one-half as 
fast, and spend twice as much thought upon a topic, 
we should learn much more effectively than we do at 
present. Enlightened teachers generally admit this 
statement as a fact, but they are controlled by the 
habits of the past when it comes to actual instruction. 
It must be acknowledged that the developing method 
is slow, but that is the kind of method that both 
children and teachers need. Since the ordinary 

M 



1 62 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Final advice 
in regard to 
use of devel- 
opment 
method. 



tendency is to cover ground altogether too rapidly, 
any method which puts a check upon teachers and 
secures greater thoroughness is to be welcomed. 

The main objections that have been stated to an 
abundance of discussion in classes of all ages are three, 
i.e. the tende^icies to wander^ to guess ^ and to progress 
too slowly. Although there are means of overcoming 
them, the objections are sufficiently weighty to pre- 
vent the majority of teachers from depending mainly 
upon conversation as a means of reaching new knowl- 
edge. 

A few instructors can limit themselves almost 
wholly to that method, at least in some subjects, and 
make their nearest approach to ideal teaching. But 
such effective work is the result of much native 
ability and extensive experience, as said before. It 
is wise for the majority to depend in large measure 
upon text-books in most studies. But in no branch 
should a text be so closely followed that the recitation 
period is spent simply in reprpducing the contents of 
a book ; that is slavish work, taxing chiefly the mem- 
ory and giving no guarantee of real assimilation. 
Even where the book is in regular use, some of its 
statements can well be anticipated and developed by 
conversation before they are assigned in the book 
itself. This can often be done in the assignment of 
the lesson. Many other statements need to be fol- 
lowed out in detail far beyond the meagre account in 
the text. Hence, even where the book is used, the 



tions to be 
put. 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 163 

recitation period should be occupied, not with cate- 
chetical questions on the text, but with discussions 
either of problems whose solution will be found in 
the text later, or of statements already met there, 
but needing much ampUfication in order to be ap- 
preciated. 

Since discussion is to play so prominent a part in Kindofques- 
all good teaching, it is well to realize that the skill 
required in conducting it is shown first of all in the 
value of the questions asked. It is necessary, there- 
fore, for the ambitious teacher to become a careful 
student of the art of qiiestionirig. Especially must 
she consider the purpose of the questions. Ordina- 
rily they aim merely to test the presence of knowl- 
edge supposed to be already acquired in the lesson 
assigned, as map questions in geography. But those 
necessary in the developing method cannot aim pri- 
marily to test memory in this way ; they must pro- 
voke thought first of all. Hence, instead of catechetical 
questions, or others that can be fully answered by a 
yes or a no, or by memorized statements in the book, 
those are to be put which are suggestive enough to 
arouse thought and broad enough to call for even a 
series of thoughts. The preceding pages offer nu- 
merous examples of this kind. - One of their merits is 
that, while they provoke or stimulate thought, they 
at the same time test the presence of knowledge. 
Socrates resorts continually to questions that fulfil 
this double function. In his conversations with young 



164 METHOD OF RECITATION 

men he tests what they know while spurring them on 
to the most careful thinking. 
Vivid mental Throughout this chapter we have been consider- 
one"meansof ^^^ ^^^ method of presenting new individual notions 
securing or concrctc facts. One object is to offer them in 
such a manner that a vivid picture will be produced 
and a deep interest be aroused. This demand for 
vividness should ever be borne in mind by the 
teacher. Children should practically see Minneapolis 
with its waterfall and flour mills, with its wheat fields 
to the west, and its farm products of all kinds com- 
ing and going. Likewise Midas, and his little daugh- 
ter coming to kiss him in the early morning, should 
stand out distinctly before them; so the different 
stages in the lives of certain insects should be accu- 
rately pictured ; and the several colonies quarrelling 
and fighting with. one another after the Revolution, 
should appear almost as clearly as disagreements on 
the playground are recalled. The developing method, 
with its searching, thought-provoking questions, is to 
be applied to this end. But other means, also, are 
to be kept in mind. One of them has already re- 
ceived emphasis; namely, the past related experiences. 
Indeed, the developing method is made possible only 
through these. 

In addition to these means it is important to pro- 
duce in class y so far as possible, the object talked about. 
It has taken centuries of progress to realize this 
need. During many generations following Colum- 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 165 

bus's discovery of America people had an unlimited 
faith in the power of words, whether the words 
represented familiar ideas or not. They were as 
far removed from the use of objects as they could 
possibly be. They even ignored the mother-tongue 
in approaching a foreign language, learning Latin 
through a grammar that was entirely in the Latin 
language. Finally Comenius advocated pictures illus- 
trating the idea symbolized by the word, and in con- 
sequence his "Orbus Pictus," or picture book, issued 
in 1657, became one of the mdst"noted school books 
ever, published. By the help of such illustrations 
one could get some notion of the object mentioned, 
even though he had never seen it. 

Another century passed before Pestalozzi was born, 
who partially convinced the world that even pictures 
were inadequate and that teachers must make it their 
practice either to bring things into the schoolroom 
to be studied, or to take the children out to see them. 
The lesson is not yet half learned, but here and there 
are instructors who do regularly bring insects and 
flowers into the school, who visit museums with their 
classes, and even go on lengthy excursions with 
them. They aim to make not only their nature study 
but other studies concrete thereby ; they visit museums 
to see historical relics ; they make excursions to see 
actual valleys ; they use objects to show how real frac- 
tional units can be added ; they do all this in order to 
secure living pictures of what is studied. There is 



l66 METHOD OF RECITATION 

as much difference between seeing a thing and merely- 
hearing about it, as there is between visiting Paris 
and listening to a description of it. 
Substitutes But unfortunately it is often impossible to see and 

I'blct^ ""^^^ handle the objects themselves. In that case there 
are several partial substitutes ; among them are 
models, maps, photographs, and lantern slides. Any 
school could make a valuable collection of pictures 
by simply cutting them out of newspapers and 
magazines; thus water-falls, industries, beautiful 
views, etc., could be presented in concrete form. 

But there is another substitute for the real object 
that is especially worthy of mention ; it is an abun- 
dance of details. To be sure, there is often a strong 
objection to them, for there is a kind of details that 
is a useless burden : the dates of most battles, the 
number of men engaged in them, the bends in a 
river, the exact height of mountains, the several 
uses of the present active participle, the number of 
seeds in an apple, the degree of longitude in which 
most towns on the earth are situated, are fair exam- 
ples. These are not the kind meant. There is 
another kind that is really essential, and it is illus- 
trated in the story of Crusoe, where little incidents 
are related without number in order to build up a 
vivid picture ; they are necessary to the comprehen- 
sion of Minneapolis as a trade centre, for one must 
know the kinds of grain shipped into the city, the 
many railroads carrying it, the numerous flour mills 



chosen 
details. 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 167 

with their capacity, etc., before he begins to see 
what is meant by trade centre. Many detailed events 
in the Hfe of the milkweed butterfly are likewise nec- 
essary before one can get a right conception of its 
metamorphosis. 

In tracing the origin of .our constitution it is in- Needofweii- 
sufficient to read that New York, New Jersey, and 
Connecticut fell into disputes and threatened war. 
We want to know what they quarrelled about. So 
it is_ not enough to call attention merely to the fact 
that there was no national coinage, and hence that 
trade was hindered ; we should like to see in detail 
some of the ways in which it was hindered. Only by 
the help of abundant little facts are we likely to enter 
into the spirit of such situations and understand them 
properly. These details are trivial in themselves, to 
be sure ; but it is through them that the child becomes 
so absorbed in a subject that he fails to hear you when 
you speak to him ; it is through them that he ap- 
proaches perfection of understanding a?id interest. 
The point to be emphasized is the selection of the 
right kind. Those should be chosen that are es- 
sential to a clear, attractive, and correct picture. 
Those that are irrelevant to this end should be cast 
aside. The biographer omits many incidents in the 
life of his hero, because they contribute little to any 
important purpose, but he depends upon others to 
make important characteristics clear and to render 
the biography attractive. The popularity of Fiske's 



i68 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Motor 
activity as a 
means of 
securing 
vivid impres- 
sions. 



" Critical Period in American History " is due largely 
to its exciting details. As said, then, \\\q first precau- 
tion to exercise is to select the details with care. This 
being recognized, the next should be to provide an 
abundance of them. Meagre data can never produce 
a complete notion, but a great number of them, well 
chosen, can make permanent impressions. 

The vividness of mental pictures is dependent 
finally upon the extent to which thoughts are allowed 
to find expression \w physical action. During the first 
six years of life the child acquires a large share of his 
education. Each year he probably learns more than 
he does during any later year of life, not excepting 
his college course. What are the means by which 
this great result is brought about.-' Two character- 
istics of these six years are especially noticeable. One 
is that he is almost constantly employing his mind. 
He propounds questions, finds their solution, makes 
observations of various kinds, etc. But during all 
this time his motor activity is as striking as his mental 
life. He is using his back, neck, legs, arms, hands, 
etc., as freely as his mind. Undoubtedly it is natural 
for him to do so. He is so constituted that if he did 
not exercise he would scarcely be able to contain him- 
self. Hence such physical action may be considered 
restful. But it is more than that. It is not a waste- 
ful activity that merely accompanies mental action, in 
an unrelated way, but it aids this action, it helps to- 
ward clearness of ideas. By dramatizing the scenes 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 69 

that he pictures, by doing and making the things that 
he imagines, he uses two means of expression rather 
than one ; namely, words and actions, and he experi- 
ences a richer spiritual life in consequence. 

All this being true, when the six-year-old boy enters 
school, what conception should be entertained of 
his work there ? Is it to be his occupation to sit 
still and think? Or at best, does learning consist 
for him in thinking, in free exercise of the muscles 
of the tongue, and of those of the hand and arm in 
writing and figuring ? If an abundance of physical 
activity was characteristic of those years when he 
learned so much, and if it was a necessary means to 
that end, why should not provision be made for it 
in the school? Why should not the method of 
teaching, throughout the grades, provide for plenty 
of motor activity, whose immediate purpose shall 
be to contribute to vivid imaging and to mental 
growth ? 

But how can this arrangement be effected ? In the 
first place, one can plan to employ the hand in many 
kinds of subjects. For instance, if drawing is begun 
with school life, children can learn to express their 
thoughts as freely with chalk as with words; they 
will illustrate Hiawatha's fight with the sturgeon, or 
the interior of a coal mine, without the slightest 
hesitation. They not only can be made willing to 
step to the board when asked, but if they happen to 
be near the board they will step to it unconsciously 



170 METHOD OF RECITATION 

when words seem to be inadequate to express the 
idea. This result, too, can be brought about not by 
skilled instruction in technical drawing, but merely 
by daily practice from the beginning in expressing 
all kinds of thoughts with chalk as well as with 
words. 

Schools are already somewhat numerous in which 
this kind of work is done, and their number can be 
multiplied. The hands can be further employed in 
shaping clay to represent such objects as an Eskimo 
hut, or in using sand in geography work, or in paint- 
ing a beautiful sunset, or in making objects out of 
paper or pasteboard or wood. The thoughts repre- 
sented by such objects can, of course, be expressed 
in words, but if in addition to that they are told 
through the work of the hand, clearer perceptions 
are obtained. 

In the second place it is often just as easy to 
employ the whole body as the hand in this expressive 
action. For instance, it is well in geography for a 
pupil, instead of saying simply that London is north- 
east of New York, to point toward *it, or, better still, 
to walk toward it. It would be in place occasionally 
to have a walking exercise in the geography with 
such questions as the following : Let us now suppose 
ourselves in Paris, will you walk toward London t 
Walk toward St. Louis. Toward Rome. Again, 
we are now in St. Petersburg, will you walk toward 
Buffalo } Toward London, etc. } The entire class 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED I^I 

may be asked to face St. Louis, to face Duluth, 
Cincinnati, etc. During this exercise there is no 
need of words on the part of the pupils, they can 
answer the questions by their physical actions. Thus 
a pleasant variety is brought into the work, and it 
is a more thorough way of answering the questions 
put than the ordinary way. The author has often 
found that both children and teachers who know 
the directions in their locality and who can tell the 
direction of Philadelphia from their home, must 
hesitate before they can walk toward Philadelphia. 
Without doubt this is due partly to the novelty of 
the request, but it is also due to the fact that a fuller 
realization of the direction is required in order to 
walk toward a point, and many people are not ac- 
customed to mental imaging vivid enough to meet 
the demand immediately. 

In primary reading there is no reason why a child 
should always show that he comprehends a thought 
by expressing it in words. If he has just read the 
sentence, " The door was opened," he can himself 
quietly perform that action ; many good teachers 
adopt this device. In several studies it is possible 
to act out scenes in some detail. This is especially 
true of literature and history. In studying the life 
of Columbus, young people can represent how Co- 
lumbus appeared before Queen Isabella, and repro- 
duce the supposed conversation between him and the 
wise men of Spain. To do this is plainly an addi- 



1/2 METHOD OF RECITATION 

tional requirement beyond recalling the narrative 
from memory, but it is done in some schools, and 
where it is done properly, vivid picturing is secured. 
The author is acquainted with a third grade that had 
an interesting experience of this kind in the story of 
Robinson Crusoe. When the point was reached in 
the narrative where Robinson was to teach Friday 
the English language, Margaret was asked to repre- 
sent Robinson, and Richard, Friday. They stepped 
out before the class, and after a moment's hesitation, 
Margaret began beating herself on the breast and 
shouting to Friday, "I, I am Robinson, Robinson," 
then she pointed to Friday and said, " You, Friday ; 
you, Friday." This was done several times, but 
Friday understood his r61e sufficiently well to grin 
discouragingly and make a grunting noise. Mar- 
garet then saw that her plan was not succeeding and 
concluded to try another. Casting her eyes about 
her, she spied the sand table near by, and seizing 
Friday by the hand she hurried him to it, plunged 
her hand into the sand and shouted, " Sand, sand," 
making motions. She forced him also to take some 
sand into his hand, and speaking the word herself, 
she required him to make the same sound. He 
attempted it and succeeded fairly well. From that 
time on Friday seemed to have the idea, progress 
was more rapid, and in a few more minutes several 
words were taught. 

In literature and history it is very often possible 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 73 

to find a portion of a narrative which can be nicely 
illustrated in this way. Of course there is unneces- 
sary loss of time if much care is taken to give regu- 
lar drill in presenting a given scene. What is 
required is simply impromptu representation of any 
scene, nothing more. 
|. One proof that such teaching secures especially proofofvaiue 
vivid pictures is the fact that children taught in actwJ'/^'^ 
this way are peculiarly free from self -consciousness ; 
that is, they must so fully enter into the spirit of 
situations that they forget themselves. This is a mat- 
ter worthy of careful consideration on the part of 
teachers. Further than that, by acting out thoughts 
children really get possession of knowledge more 
fully. If instead of ending with words in regard to 
a topic, they close with actions, they feel that the 
ideas are more fully their possession, which means 
that they feel self-confidence in regard to their knowl- 
edge. The presence of such self-confidence is itself 
another proof that the picturing is vivid, for this con- 
fidence is lacking where situations are not clearly 
imaged. It is, therefore, an important test of method 
to inquire to what extent the teacher provides for 
motor activity as a means of producing vivid impres- 
sions. 

There are, then, four prominent factors to be 
attended to when vivid picturing is desired : past 
related experiences are to be appealed to in abun- 
dance ; the objects studied are, just as far as pos- 



174 METHOD OF RECITATION 

sible, to be seen and handled ; a large number of 
carefully selected details are to be offered, and pro- 
vision is to be made for physical expression of 
thought. By careful attention to these factors it is 
possible to present facts in such a manner that the 
pupil enters into their spirit so as to seem to experi- 
ence them himself ; he then feels himself among, or 
in the midst of them ; or, in other words, is inter- 
ested {inter csse^ to be among or between or in the 
midst of). This interest is necessary if knowledge 
is to be really digested and become a source of 
power. 
When review The tcachcr's practice in regard to reviews is one 
is^in^piacr" very valuable test of his skill and insight. It was a 
favorite maxim of the Jesuits that, ** Repetition is 
the mother of studies," and the extent to which they 
applied it is astonishing. Every lesson began with a 
review of the preceding lesson, and ended with the 
review of that which was just covered. Besides 
this, one day a week was devoted entirely to repeti- 
tion. In the three lowest grades, also, the second 
half of each year was spent in reviewing what had been 
taught during the first half. Probably modern edu- 
cators would agree with them in the importance that 
they attached to review ; at least it should certainly 
occupy much time. But modern educators would 
disagree with them radically as to the way in which 
it should be conducted. 

To-day repetitiofi and review are by no means fully 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 75 

synonymous terms. On some occasions mere repeti- 
tion, or reproduction of thoughts substantially in the 
way in which they were first taught, is entirely in 
place. For instance, the one, two, or three reviews 
and summaries that have been suggested (p. 152) as 
desirable in each recitation may practically amount 
to a repetition of the facts presented. Such repeti- 
tion may also be in place at the beginning of a 
recitation when work is called for that was accom- 
plished on the previous day. It is advisable to recall 
subject-matter for a few times in much the same 
manner in which it was originally taught; that is, 
practically the same questions and the same answers 
may be repeated until facts become well fixed for the 
first time. 

But before knowledge is really digested, it is wherein re- 
necessary to fix it in mind many times. Mere Jiti^niswSk! 
repetition cannot do this in the right way ; what is 
needed is a new adjustment of a thought to our 
usual way of thinking, then another and another, 
etc., utitil it becomes welded to our personality on 
many sides. Repetition usually signifies verbatim 
reproduction ; or, if not that, something so closely 
akin to it that mainly memory^ and not reason^ is 
appealed to. It requires that the same route be 
followed that was originally travelled, and hence 
always approaches knowledge from the same side. 
This is what the Jesuits did, and it is largely what 
was done in the term reviews so common in this 



176 METHOD OF RECITATION 

country only a few years ago. It was the custom 
then to set aside the last two or three weeks of the 
term for a review of all the matter that had been 
taught during the term. This was the practice not 
only in the common schools, but in the normals and 
colleges as well. On such occasions so much was 
assigned for each lesson that there was no hope of 
studying it so thoroughly as the first time it was 
covered. Indeed, that was not the object; the aim 
was rather to take a rapid view of all the ground 
traversed in the belief that one more look, though 
not a careful one, would greatly aid in fixing the 
facts permanently in mind. It was mainly a hurried 
repetition. But what stultifying work ! Two, three 
weeks consumed at the close of each term without 
pretence of reaching new thoughts, or of reviewing 
old ones in a new light, but with the sole object of 
impressing the memory ! There was certainly no 
inspiration to the pupil in that kind of work, or to 
the teacher, either. But, aside from that, there was 
little profit for the pains ; the aim was a narrow one, 
and it was very poorly attained. When a review 
degenerates into a mere drill by repeating knowledge 
in the same form in which it was first acquired, it 
makes little impression upon the memory itself, and 
the hammering must be kept up a long while before 
it will tell. It was a narrow aim, too, because even 
after one has learned a thing so well that he can 
say it in his sleep, he has no proof that he knows 



review. 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 1 77 

it SO thoroughly that he will be conscious that he 
has it when it is needed. The world is full of peo- 
ple who need to be told when to use their knowledge, 
even though they have learned it by heart. 

Reviews should aim to be much more than mere Purpose and 
drills for the memory. They should aim to put the p^i^"e?paf '^^ 
child into the possession of facts for use by causing kind of 
Jiim to approach them from as many sides as possible. 
No one who has thought of a point in only one way 
has real control of it ; if he has repeated it a great 
many times, he has perhaps fallen into a rut rather 
than gotten a broad understanding of it. The 
world does not necessarily, in fact does not usually, 
adopt the one approach to a thought that was 
taught in school ; hence, the school should prepare 
for the world by leading the pupil to one point 
from many directions. Repetition is then only one 
kind of review, and an exceedingly narrow one at 
that. 

Reviews in the main should mean a new view of an 
old thought^ or a view from a new position. This kind 
has already been partly provided for by the preceding 
step, for, in the acquisition of individual notions, it 
was shown to be important to collect the past related 
experiences. Such a review can be further secured 
in the presentation of the new material, provided 
teachers can find sufficient energy to throw away 
questions that have become somewhat worn from 
use, and think new ones. Any important topic. 



178 METHOD OF RECITATION 

when once taught, should be recalled many and 
many times, and the questions referring to it should 
be stated in all possible forms, so that it can be seen 
from one side, then another, and another, etc. A 
mountain does not appear the same on one side as on 
another, and he who has observed it closely from one 
point may fail entirely to recognize it when viewed 
from a different position. The same is true of ob- 
jects of knowledge in all subjects. 

It often happens that a mere change of the word- 
ing of the question utterly confuses an intelligent 
class. The author was once acquainted with a sen- 
ior class in a state university who, in their study of 
pedagogy, had reached the conclusion that the devel- 
opment of good character was the chief purpose of 
the public school. The matter had been discussed at 
length until they seemed clear in their conception of 
good character and well grounded in their reasons 
for giving it such prominence. One day shortly after 
this result had been reached, the statement was made 
to them, " The superintendent of schools of one of 
our largest cities recently remarked that the chief 
object of the first three years of school is to teach chil- 
dren to read. Would you agree with him or not ? " 
The reply came unanimously that they would. The 
matter was then carefully discussed, and they saw that 
in this case the acquisition of knowledge was set up 
as the highest purpose of the primary grades while 
they had asserted that it should be the development 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 179 

of character. They acknowledged their inconsist- 
ency and withdrew their assent to the superintend- 
ent's remark. 

Again soon afterward they were tested on the same 
point, as follows : '* A mother often says to her little 
child, * Did you have your reading lesson to-day ? ' 
And if she is convinced that he did have it, she feels 
quite satisfied as to the success of the school so far 
as her child is concerned. Is she quite right ? " The 
reply came that she was, in spite of previous conclu- 
sions to the contrary.^ 

Thesp are merely examples showing how, after a 
question had been settled not only once but even 
several times, a query somewhat different from those 
already presented will prove that it is not yet by any 
means really settled or brought into relation to other 
kinds of experience. It is largely because matters 
have been reviewed in only one way, from one point of 
view, that strangers, who have different ways of look- 
ing at things from the teacher, receive no replies, or 

^The author was recently discussing the relative value of studies 
with a class of tvi^enty-five persons who averaged about ten years of ex- 
perience in teaching. Nearly one entire recitation period was devoted 
to that topic. It was the custom of the class to receive a few questions, 
at the beginning of each hour, that bore upon any of the preceding 
work of the year. Accordingly the next day after the recitation men- 
tioned the question put was, Have we at any time during this year 
discussed the problem, What knowledge is of most worth? The unani- 
mous reply was that we had never considered it. In like manner 
children often " haven't yet had " a topic which has already been " had " 
and finished by them. 



l80 METHOD OF RECITATION 

very ridiculous ones, when examining school children. 
If there were usually an element of newness in the re- 
views, so that they might be distinguished from mere 
drills and repetitions by taxing the thinking power, they 
would prove vtore interesting 2Ln6. thereby make a deeper 
impression upon the memory; they would also lead 
to greater thoroughness of knowledge and thus largely 
eliminate such discouraging answers as the above. 
Amount of There is no desire expressed here to diminish the 

revfew.^ amount of time devoted to reviews. The great dan- 
ger is that they will receive altogether too little 
rather than too much attention. On the average 
probably from one-third to one-half of the time in 
school should be spent in considering topics that 
have already been studied. It occupies much time 
to recall the old related experiences in approaching 
a new topic and in following the developing method ; 
it consumes much more, as will appear later, to com- 
pare facts already studied, with the object of finding 
similarities and differences and essentials ; it takes 
more still to review old knowledge by applying it, 
until it becomes one's own ; when all this is done 
and when, in addition to it, time has been taken for 
proper repetition, and for review by numerous ques- 
tions put from new points of view, one will find that 
easily one-half of the teaching time has been con- 
sumed. But the time for review should not come 
m,ainly toward the close of the term — it should be 
distributed throughout the term, every recitation con- 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED l8l 

taining some of it. Only in that way can a student 
become so familiar with thoughts that he has his 
bearings in regard to them, no matter from what side 
he may be approached. 

One of the important parts of any recitation con- Assignment 
sists in the assignment of the lesson for the next day, °^^^^^''"' 
In case the developing method is employed, the aim 
of the next period should be clearly stated in the lat- 
ter part of the recitation, and when the next period 
arrives,> that aim should be recalled. In the mean- 
time the pupils can be held for careful reflection on 
what was last accomplished, so as to reproduce it 
correctly and with ease. 

In case a text-book is used, sufficient time should 
be taken toward the close of each recitation to state 
the aim for the next period, and to allow at least the 
preparatory step, so that the class may approach the 
text at home in an apperceiving mood. It is impor- 
tant that this preparation be completed, before the 
text itself be discussed. 

But whatever method be employed, all that has 
been heretofore said about the importance of fixing 
a definite aim applies to the assignment of the next 
lesson. If a clearly defined object is a necessary 
condition of valuable study in the presence of the 
teacher and with his help, it is all the more evident 
that when left to study at home by themselves chil- 
dren will waste much of their time unless guided by a 
clearly defined purpose in each lesson. 



1 82 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Amount of The time necessary for the second step varies in- 
time neces- , _ . , ^ . . ^, 

sary for the definitely. Sometimes it may not occupy more than 
second stage, fifteen minutes. But when it is remembered that it 
deals with individual notions and must furnish as 
many of them as are necessary, as data, for reaching 
a generalization, often a broad one too, it is evident 
that it may occupy many recitation periods. Eight 
or ten recitations are usually required to teach the 
story of the Discontented Pine Tree. One period 
is necessary for the first step, then five or six for the 
narrative itself or the second step, and the other 
three for the general truth and its appHcation. It 
would take fully as much time for the Golden Touch 
in the third or fourth grade. Several individual 
trade centres should be studied somewhat in detail 
before the generalization, trade centre, could be 
reached. MinneapoHs as the first example, and a 
type, might require two weeks, although the others 
could be taught in much less time. 

In order to realize that all sections of our coun- 
try must be firmly united under one central govern- 
ment, very many data are necessary. A careful 
treatment of those given in Chapter II could easily 
occupy two months in the sixth grade. 
Require- The successful treatment of these concrete data 

ments from ^lakes a great demand upon the teacher. In order to 

the teacher. ° ^ 

excite deep interest among her children in her subject- 
matter, she herself must be deeply interested in it. 
As she approaches the class she 7mist feel that she 



INDIVIDUAL NOTIONS PRESENTED 183 

has something vahcable to give them, something that 
they will value highly as well as she. How little 
this is the case with many common topics, as per- 
son, voice, and case in grammar; the location of 
cities in geography ; the teaching of the several 
cases in percentage, etc. ! The first demand on the 
teacher is, then, that she know her subject thor- 
oughly and feel its richness. But far beyond that, 
she must have prepared each lesson with much care 
before she can hope to provoke free, pointed discus- 
sion, of such quality that good summaries will be 
given in the natural language of the child. 

This is the ideal, which can never be fully at- 
tained. But it can at least be approached ; and there 
is the consolation, too, in case of failures, that con- 
stant, earnest practice will rapidly render a near 
approach to it more and more easy. 

In the last two chapters a large number of factors Summary, 
have been considered that are important in the 
preparation for, and presentation of, individual no- 
tions. The first great question was. How should 
individual notions be approached.? The answer, 
was that the past experiences, related closely to a 
given topic, should be called to mind in abundance ; 
the method of doing that received much attention. 
The second great question. How should individual 
notions be presented .'' has now been discussed at 
length. This completes our consideration of indi- 
vidual notions. It is evident that there are two steps 



1 84 METHOD OF RECITATION 

in their mastery ; first, the step in which the mind is 
prepared for the new concrete matter ; and, second, 
that in which the latter is presented. These will 
often be referred to in the future as the first and 
second steps of instruction. 



CHAPTER VIII 

HOW PROCEED FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 

NOTIONS 

Instruction often ceases at this point as though 
all was finished when individual notions have been 
acquired. This is the case in much of history and 
geography ; that is, in these subjects there is often 
little more done than to collect a mass of facts about 
individual men, battles, administrations, cities, moun- 
tains, rivers, etc. But we have seen that percepts 
without concepts are blind, they give no insight into 

general truths and laws. Sense impressions, vivid a starting- 
point for 
concrete pictures or percepts, are only the startmg- general 

point in instruction; its end has not been reached "on°retJ" 

until these concrete data have been sifted and fully material. 

interpreted. We have thus far, as it were, merely 

collected the material out of which to build some 

structure; just what kind it shall be is not yet 

determined; it now remains to look over the many 

things with care, to see what can best be made out of 

them. Or we have thus far only gotten together in 

piles the books which are to constitute our library ; 

the usefulness of the same will now depend upon the 

185 



1 86 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



care that is taken in sorting, arranging, and indexing 
them. Hence there is much work still to be done. 
It might happen that the mere sight of building 
materials would hint at the best use to which they 
might be put. So in instruction it can happen that 
the concrete data immediately suggest the large truth 
that they are intended to teach. This is the case with 
the Golden Touch. The experiences of Midas, his 
repentance, etc., are not peculiar to the king alone. 
The child quickly feels that Midas is typical of many 
people, and that, if their selfish wishes were granted 
they, too, like him, would be grievously disappointed. 
Thus a glimpse is caught of the general truth, the 
universal application. 

But is it not important to catch more than a glimpse 

of such a weighty truth } Should not 3. full view of 

notions may it be obtained by bringing together those facts within 

be secured. 

this narrative that point to it, and also by calling to 
mind other stories and any actual experiences of life 
that teach the same thought.'* Baucis and Philemon 
had their wish ; did they choose more or less wisely than 
Midas ? Why ? In what respects was Solomon's choice 
a wise one } How did Midas overestimate the value of 
money } What use did Robinson Crusoe make of his 
bag of money when upon the island .-* Why } Such 
comparisons and questions bring the chief thought 
into full view until it can be stated in words, and they 
do it in such a way as to establish a conviction. 
Any student of United States history necessarily 



How a full 
view of 
general 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 1 8/ 

becomes acquainted with some of the sad results of 
our want of unity during the Revolutionary War and 
the years immediately following ; but because the in- 
struction is not planned to teach convincingly that our 
states must be united, no intelligent conviction in regard 
to that matter is established ; some of the most valuable 
data are omitted entirely, and those that are furnished 
by the book and teacher are not so massed as to point 
inevitably to close union as the solution of the many 
difficulties. 

Geography contains almost an overplus of concrete 
facts, but too often instruction stops with them, and 
the result is that only a vague conception is given of 
trade centre, manufacturing country, canal, harbor, 
mountain, beautiful view, etc. Beyond doubt the de- 
fect is due partly to the fact that individual trade cen- 
tres, harbors, mountains, etc., are not studied in such 
detail as to furnish the accurate facts necessary for a 
fairly correct concept. Some idea of the number of 
details required for that purpose was given in connec- 
tion with Minneapolis. But the defect is due also to 
the fact that such concrete data as are studied are not 
brought together and compared. Minneapolis and 
the other cities along the Mississippi River that were 
mentioned represent only one kind of trade centre. 
Minneapolis is an excellent type of our large Western 
cities that deal largely in grain and lumber, and ship 
goods in and out by rail. But all centres of trade do 
not handle mainly these goods, nor depend so fully 



1 88 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



How a single 
case is mis- 
leading. 



Danger of 

stopping 
short of gen- 
eral truths. 



upon railways. Buffalo adds coal and live stock to the 
articles mentioned, and waterways by the Great Lakes 
and Erie Canal. Pittsburg deals largely in iron 
products, London in wines, fruits, iron goods, etc. A 
glimpse of the characteristics necessary to a trade 
centre is furnished by a study of Minneapolis alone. 
But m this case, as in that of Midas, more than a 
glimpse is wanted ; and it can be gotten by compar- 
ing facts along the same line learned from other sources. 
In this case several great cities should be carefully 
compared in order to reach a clear conception of 
trade centre. 

One can get only a faulty conception of the 
general notion of valley by observing one valley. It 
is customary in good schools to examine a neigh- 
boring valley, estimating its length, breadth, etc. 
But it is usually so narrow that one can throw 
across, or at least see across it. It gives scarcely a 
suggestion of the great Mississippi Valley. Many 
a child, who can define this word and illustrate what 
he means, is mystified by being assured that he 
himself lives in the Mississippi Valley, for he has 
never even seen that river. So the worded defini- 
tion fails of interpretation until numerous valleys 
of various sizes and characteristics are studied and 
compared. 

These instances show that it is unsafe to stop 
short of the abstract truths, the rules, laws, or defi- 
nitions. When one has presented only the individual 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 1 89 

notions he has, as it were, what he knows to be valu- 
able gold ore in his possession. But the latter must 
be refined before it can be brought into relation to 
human needs, before it can be used ; so with knowl- 
edge ; the non-essentials that are mixed with the 
essentials in concrete facts must be separated from 
these before the latter can become adapted to our 
use. That itself is a very important part of instruc- 
tion. In arithmetic it is not left to one or a few 
examples worked to suggest of themselves the arith- 
metical rule ; that would involve too much risk. It 
is a matter of vital importance to compare the steps 
taken in adding different groups of fractions in order 
to discover what must always be done, i.e. what the 
rule is. This is the case, too, in all study. The 
first and second great steps of instruction give com- 
mand at best of well-arranged series of individual 
facts; from these the general truths are still to be 
drawn ; and unless this is done the instruction of 
the teacher is, as a rule, largely in vain. So far as 
knowledge is concerned, general truths are the 
teacher's harvest; just as the reaping and threshing 
of wheat are essential parts of wheat raising so the 
careful reaching of generalizations is an essential 
part of good instruction. 

While the acquisition of concrete facts may be 
regarded as a single large step, it was found to con- 
sist of two minor acts, each of which involved a 
large number of valuable considerations. So the 



tion. 



190 METHOD OF RECITATION 

progress from individual to general notions is not 
simple; enough has been said to indicate that the 
individuals must be compared in order to discover 
in what respects they are alike and what properties 
are essential to all ; then must follow a collection of 
the essential characteristics of the class and an 
expression of the same in words in the form of a 
definition, maxim, or proverb, etc. Hence, there 
Two steps in may be said to be two stages in proceeding from 
genera iza- jnj^ividual to general notions : one, the stage of com- 
parison and abstraction^ the other, of definition ; the 
former would then be the third, the latter the fourth 
step in the mastery of general notions, since, as 
shown above, two are necessary in acquiring the 
concrete data. 

Third Step 

Comparison presupposes a knowledge of things to 
be compared ; one cannot well hunt out resemblances 
and differences among objects before these them- 
selves have been separately studied. The argument 
for this statement is well worth thinking out, it 
would require too much space to be presented here. 
The opposite practice is quite common. 

The extent to which the comparison is carried 
must depend upon the number and nature of the 
data furnished through the second step, or through 
other similar experiences acquired either in or out- 
side of school. Few problems involving addition of 
fractions need be solved before their comparison can 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL I9I 

take place with the view of reaching the rule. This The ease or 
is because one problem is quickly recognizable as refchinggtn- 
typical of all others. Likewise the metamorphosis eraii«ations. 
of one insect readily represents that of others of 
the same class. The moral of a story may easily 
be reached from the one narrative when the theme 
is simple and when it recalls numerous past experi- 
ences tending in the same direction. This is the 
case with the Golden Touch. Children who are 
quickly susceptible to the force of the underlying 
truth must necessarily have been led already to re- 
flect on the occasional uselessness of gold ; for 
instance, they have found Crusoe rightly preferring 
a jack-knife to a whole bag-full of money. And 
such experiences, coupled with the narrative, indeed 
compared with it unconsciously, cause the moral to 
seem easy and capable of being reached at a single 
bound. However, as already shown, it is reached 
much more effectively if time is taken to recall other 
related experiences and compare them all. 

But some of our great classics furnish remarkable 
examples of a common inability to " read between the 
lines." Pestalozzi's " Leonard and Gertrude" was un- 
doubtedly regarded 'only as an interesting story, not 
as a work on education, by the great majority of its 
multitude of admirers during the previous century. 
Even to-day students need to be cautioned that it is 
educational in its aim before they are inclined to dis- 
cover in it educational truths. One hundred years 



192 METHOD OF RECITATION 

ago people wanted many of the experiences that 
must be put alongside those of this story in order to 
bring out clearly its fundamental thought. Now 
they have plenty of them, but easily fail to call them 
to mind and to associate them with the contents of 
the book. Hence it must be a part of the instructor's 
duty to call up such experiences and suggest, through 
them, the generalizations intended. 

Pestalozzi's book furnishes an excellent example of 
a properly realized second step ; i.e. there is an abun- 
dance of incidents or particulars so presented as to be 
very clearly seen and to appear interesting ; but while 
there is no fault to find with it in that respect, the 
reader must extricate himself from this mass of details 
and discover the great truths that the essential parts 
of the story indicate before he has really read the 
book or gotten its worth. 

In general, this step of comparison must be a con- 
siderable abridgment of what is necessary in a com- 
plete induction. It would be agreeable if a great 
number of individual valleys, trade centres, and stories 
teaching the same underlying thought as the Golden 
Touch, etc., could be studied in detail. But want of 
time, in school at least, forbids. Only a few well- 
chosen types can there receive such close attention, 
and they must represent and explain in a rough way 
the entire class, to which they belong. It is for the 
home and later life to supplement this work of the 
school. 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL I93 

If these individuals have been accurately and in- The various 
terestingly taught, the comparison that follows can compalon!* 
awaken much life. It is interesting to note how a 
cat or a dog runs across the floor ; but it is more in- 
teresting still to note how the former is fitted to do 
it so much more quietly than the latter. We enjoy 
observing just how the sheep, the cow, or the horse 
cHps off grass from the meadow, but we enjoy still 
more the comparison of them to discover why one 
prefers long grass and another grass that is very 
short: Tennyson's poem of *'The Brook" is very 
attractive in itself, but after seeing what message a 
little stream carries not only to one poet but to two 
or three, it is especially attractive to compare these 
messages and their various styles of expression. The 
old Greek heroes were wonderful men ; so were our 
own pioneers. A class that has formed a close 
acquaintance with both sets of men is likely to be- 
come especially stirred in determining which had the 
greater difficulties to meet and which were the nobler. 

Such comparisons increase not only the interest in 
knowledge, but its accuracy and definiteness as well. 
One serious defect in most instruction is that the 
facts taught are abandoned too soon for the sake of 
new ones, and in consequence they are neither thor- 
oughly comprehended nor even retained in memory. 
But the moment we begin to compare animals or 
poems, or men, etc., they must be recalled vividly to 
mind ; thus a careful review is instituted. But more 



194 METHOD OF RECITATION 

than that : this knowledge is not reproduced in just 
the same way in which it was originally acquired 7 it ! 
is approached from some new point of view, it is seen | 
in one or more new relations. We may be well 
acquainted with the life of Washington or of Lincoln ; 
but if asked to show in what respects they were alike, 
or in what respects one was superior to the other, we 
would have hard thinking before us. Each life would 
need to be reviewed from a new position ; points that 
we have been in the habit of emphasizing might 
receive little attention, while others that have been 
neglected might be brought into prominence; the 
result would be that new thoughts and perhaps new 
convictions would be reached. So a comparison of 
the Rhine, Hudson, and Mississippi valleys causes 
a careful review of each and adds new thoughts or 
conclusions to our stock. Most people are prone to 
recall facts, for instance, the causes of the Revolution- 
ary War, in the same order in which they were first 
learned, if they recall them at all; in consequence 
they make little advance in their knowledge, it does 
not grow more thorough. But comparisons tend to 
remedy the defect by forcing them to look at a sub- 
ject from one side, then from another and another, , 
etc., the result is that their knowledge becomes more 
thorough, for seeing any topic from many sides or in 
many relations means thoroughness. Thus compari- 
sons are an important agent in securing interesting 
reviews and wide comprehension of a subject. 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL I95 

In developing the idea of nouns the teacher gives 
examples of nouns such as horse, mountain, deer, 
tree, boy, apple, barn, etc. By examining and com- 
paring such words as to their meaning, children will 
conclude that nouns must be the names of objects. 
But if the teacher suggests that there are other 
nouns such as running, playing, talking, eating, etc., 
and shows that these too can be used in the same 
way as the previous list, the children, by comparison 
of the two groups of ideas, will modify their state- 
ment "and conclude that nouns are the names of both 
objects and actions. 

Let the teacher now call to mind such nouns as 
courage, honesty, beauty, kindness, strength, fear, 
etc., and show how they are used in sentences. 
After further comparison of the three groups, the 
children may include names of qualities in their defi- 
nition of nouns. The teacher may go farther and 
show that any word like under or quickly can be used 
as a noun, as " Under is a word of two syllables." 
By still further comparisons the children may be able 
to see that a noun is the name of anything used as an 
object of thought. Without such a series of compari- 
sons it is difficult to see how the notion of nouns can 
be clearly formed and a correct definition obtained. 

In getting a clear notion of vertebrate animals, 
children may notice the backbone first in quadrupeds, 
then in birds, later in fishes, frogs, serpents, etc. 
Only by successive comparisons do they arrive at a 



tions. 



196 METHOD OF RECITATION 

comprehensive view of the groups of animals included 
under the term vertebrates. By a similar process of 
comparisons does a child get the wider significance 
of boat, road, fruit, government, church, states- 
man, etc. 
How com- The third step was spoken of not only as a step of 

to^abstrac-^ comparison but also of abstraction. How the latter 
'• v^ takes place may be seen from examples. In the 
study of trade centres the individual characteristics of 
each were considered in detail. Without any further 
study of them we have a partially correct conception 
of the idea trade centre. But if we wish to make 
it at all accurate, we must first compare these several 
great cities: one, Minneapolis, is the centre for flour 
and lumber, another for coal, another for iron, fruits, 
grain, etc. Some depend mainly upon water for 
transportation, others upon railways, others upon 
both to a marked degree. Hence in order to be 
styled a trade centre it is unnecessary that a certain 
city deal largely in flour ; neither must it be iron, nor 
coal ; in fact, it makes no difference just what the 
articles be, so we leave that matter out of considera- 
tion. What do we hold in mind then } Those char- 
acteristics simply that are really essential and hence 
common to all trade centres. In order to be properly 
called a trade centre there must be a large quantity 
of goods shipped to and from a certain city ; also 
there must be conveniences for transportation, i.e. 
plenty of railroads or waterways or other means for 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL I97 

carrying, vf The attention is drawn away (abstracted) 
from all minor and non-essential matters and centred 
finally upon those that are necessary for conceiving 
trade centre properly. In reaching a correct defini- 
tion of valley, one goes through exactly this same 
process of comparison and abstraction. It is practi- 
cally the same in reaching the generalization in his- 
tory in regard to unity. In that case while many 
details were studied showing the troubles that fol- 
lowed the Revolutionary War, only the more signifi- 
cant of these are now considered. They are brought 
together and compared — perhaps ten or twelve im- 
portant facts ; most of these are found to be ahke 
in pointing toward unity as their remedy ; if some of 
them, though important, do not hint strongly at unity, 
the attention is withdrawn (abstracted) from them 
and centred on those that do. These latter being 
weighty matters, and pointing all to the same con- 
clusion, are recognized as sufificient data on which to 
found the conviction that our states should be united. 
People are continually reaching conclusions in 
this way, i.e. through comparison and abstraction 
— so it is nothing strange. But the difficulty is that 
they do it very carelessly and hence make mistakes. 
They are prone to the same errors in this case as in 
the observation of the common objects about them, 
i.e. the results reached are hazy and inaccurate 
unless they expend conscious effort or do some real 
studying. It is the duty of teachers to give children 



198 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



training in this work and to lead them to reach im- 
portant generalizations correctly in all school studies. 



Why clear 
statement of 
general 
truths is 
difficult. 



Fourth Step 

After separating essentials from non-essentials, 
it remains to collect the former and to word clearly 
and accurately the result reached ; for example, the 
necessary characteristics of a trade centre, the rule 
for addition of fractions, the law for the metamor- 
phosis of insects, the underlying thought in the 
Golden Touch, or the generalization regarding unity, 
should receive definite statement. This is not an 
easy matter ; the world is full of people who ** know 
it but can't tell it." Some of the most common ideas 
are defined in words with the greatest difficulty. 
For instance, teachers quite frequently speak of 
good character as the purpose of education, yet they 
seldom dare attempt to state what the chief ele- 
ments in such character are ; all people are ac- 
quainted with Christ's parables of the sower, and of 
the wheat and the tares ; yet it costs a struggle to 
word properly the thought in either of them. Every 
one, no doubt, has often been surprised at his ina- 
bility to express himself on a topic with which he 
had supposed himself to be familiar. What is the 
cause of the difficulty } Beyond question in most 
cases it is not first of all a lack of words, but of 
clearness of ideas ; when one knows exactly what his 
thought is, he can usually give expression to it ; hesi- 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL I99 

tation is due to vagueness. It means a decided ad- 
vance in thinking to state a conclusion tersely in 
words; it is an advance, too, that should be regu- 
larly required from all learners, for the final utility 
of the three preceding steps in instruction is directly 
dependent on the clearness and accuracy with which 
generalizations are reached ; their purpose is to lead 
to generals, and nothing is clinched until these latter 
are fully expressed. 

In. whose words should the abstraction be stated, who shall 
in those of the child or student, on the one hand, ^ZTZfZ 

' ' statement. 

or in those of the book or teacher } Much is involved 
in the question. As a rule, the mistake is made of 
hastening altogether too rapidly to reach the exact 
wording that the book or teacher prefers ; as though 
an exact wording given to the child would neces- 
sarily produce an exact thought in his mind. The 
truth is that unless the exact notion has been ap- 
proached very nearly by one's own power to think 
and use words, the definition carefully worded for 
him by another accomplishes little or nothing ; it does 

I not meet a feeHng of need, and fails to be apper- 
ceived or appreciated. Any statement of a defini- 

^ tion, law, or rule should be the immediate outcome of 
the thinking that has gone before, otherwise it is an 
imposition upon the child. To be sure, children can 
often reproduce the book's statement and talk about 
it with glibness, but that proves only their ability 
to handle words ; they are often conscious that they 



2CX) METHOD OF RECITATION 

are only playing with phrases and wondering if the 
teacher will find them out ; this thing is happening 
every day in our schools, and as a rule the attempt 
to hide behind words is successful. It is a game of 
hide-and-seek between teacher and pupil — a mas- 
querading with words. 

If it is true that accurately worded statements 
from the book or instructor do not necessarily eUcit 
accurate thinking from the pupil, less faith should 
be placed in mere verbal accuracy, and the somewhat 
cruder statement from the child should be more 
willingly accepted. The latter is his own and is 
genuine. The exact definition very often does not 
appeal to him, and, in that case, instead of being 
forced to learn it, he should be scolded if he allows 
himself, parrot-like, to repeat it. The boy who said 
that " number tells about the how-muchness of 
things," had the essence of the definition ; why not 
judge him by that and preserve his individuality.'* 
It is one of the most difficult things in the world for 
one to be himself in the true sense, and school in- 
struction, instead of discouraging the real expres- 
sion of self in the use of words, should count that 
one of its high functions. Did not the boy have 
an accurate idea of a bat, who defined it thus : ** He's 
a nasty little mouse with injy-rubber wings and shoe- 
string tail, and bites like the devil " .? Does the text- 
book come closer to the child's thought by describing 
it as a " Mammal with a wing membrane extending 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 20I 

from the enormously elongated bones and fingers of 
the fore limb to the comparatively short hind limbs"? 
The adult's love of accuracy and graceful form of ex- 
pression too often misleads him in these matters. 

The uselessness of such a memorized definition is How repro- 
seen from the fact that, when once forgotten, there g'^ttln'^' 
is no way of reproducing it except by turning to the statements. 
book. Now the fact is that any rule or general 
truth directly taught to a child will prodadly be for- 
gotten — a discouraging fact, but certainly true ; 
and as text-books are not to be kept at hand 
throughout life, how is the definition to be made 
available } The really useful generalization, the one 
that brings with it a feeling of strength, is the one 
that can be reproduced, after having been forgotten, 
through the data out of which it arose ; it should be 
so closely associated with these and so directly an 
outgrowth from them that they can replace it when 
lost; the child himself should draw the generaliza- 
tion from the data in the first place, then when' it is 
forgotten it should be reproduced by his own un- 
aided effort. The first thing, then, in regard to the 
acquisition of definitions, principles, etc., is that the 
child reach them by his own thinking and state them 
as well as possible in his own words. 

The ability to do this depends greatly, of course, 
upon his intimate acquaintance with the data them- 
selves ; the individual notions and their points of 
similarity must be well known to him ; in other words, 



202 METHOD OF RECITATION 

the first, second, and third steps must have been 
properly covered. 

When to use / But should he never accept the words of another? 

statement. / He may, and undoubtedly should, at times, but not 
until he has done his own thinking on the matter 
and feels the crudeness of his own wording. The 
IJ mistake consists in offering the book's statement 
prematurely, before the need of it is felt. If the 
' definition for case in grammar, or the rule for the 
division of fractions, is taught before the meaning 
itself stands out clearly in the mind, there is serious 
danger lest it may never be rightly comprehended ; 
the reason is that the child, having once memorized 
the definition or rule, refers to it for guidance and is 
unwilling to turn back to speculate about its origin. 
It is very difficult, after having gotten the words for 
an abstract thought, to go back and get the thought 
itself, for the mind is not then in a learning attitude ; 
having secured the semblance of knowledge, it is 
deceived into thinking that it has the whole thing 
and is impatient of delay. The only safe method, 
then, is to move slowly toward any definition, taxing 
in full the learner's ability to think and express him- 
self, until the correct conception is reached. After 
that, if there is difficulty merely about a brief and 
accurate wording, the form of statement given by 
the book or teacher is entirely in place and may be 
learned by heart. 

Occasionally at the end of the discussion it is pos- 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 203 

sible to clothe the principle in a classical garb ; for Value of 
example, the proverb, "How much better is it to get poelk form."^ 
wisdom than gold ! " expresses the ruling idea in the 
Golden Touch; "In unity is strength," the one 
suggested by the historical facts presented in Chapter 
II. The Germans are far more accustomed to 
summing up their conclusions in this form than we, 
and the practice certainly adds grace and force to 
their speech. The reason for preferring a classical 
form of expression for a weighty thought over an 
ordinary form, is much the same as that for prefer- 
ring a classical poem to a poor one. Hence school 
instruction should encourage familiarity with such 
proverbs or maxims as are found in Poor Richard's 
Almanac, the Bible, and ^sop's Fables, in poetry, 
etc., and should do so by selecting them to express 
valuable sentiments that have been taught. 

Text-books are often in place in the fourth step. Text-books 
Many of them, as the ordinary small geography for summaries, 
beginners, brief outlines of United States history, 
grammars, etc., are little more than brief summaries 
of the main facts belonging to the studies that they 
represent. If these facts have been slowly reached, 
i.e. to a fair degree inductively, they should be finally 
reviewed and accurately summarized. Such text-books 
accomplish this in an excellent manner. Among 
some teachers it is the custom to require pupils to 
enter their generalizations or main outlines of facts in 
small blank books, with proper headings ; one book 



204 METHOD OF RECITATION 

is kept for each study and, as soon as an important 
topic has been finished, it is written in its proper 
place. Thus the children practically make their own 
books. 
When gener- Somctimcs, especially with young children, it seems 
premature^'^^ advisable not to teach the rule at all, relying upon 
the concrete facts — whatever their nature — to sug- 
gest it of themselves. This applies to arithmetic and 
to literature, as well as to other studies. Froebel 
emphasizes it strongly in the kindergarten. Little 
people who cannot appreciate the statement of an 
abstract rule may remember how a typical example 
was worked and solve another in the same way ; or 
in literature they may recall a story together with the 
feeling it produced, thus receiving some benefit from 
it, while a full statement of the moral might prove 
too abstract, or, on other accounts, unwholesome. It 
requires much delicacy on the part of the teacher, 
especially when teaching morals, to distinguish what 
is best to be done in this regard. 

In teaching the rules and analyses of arithmetic 
teachers sometimes demand from children a prema- 
ture exactness and fulness of language. It is obvious 
that exact verbal statements in description of con- 
crete objects are difficult, still more so are rules and 
abstractions which are much more difficult to under- 
stand and formulate. Children in the fourth or fifth 
school-year are often teased and worried over a long, 
exact, and tedious analysis of a problem in denomi- 



FROM INDIVIDUAL TO GENERAL 205 

nate numbers or fractions, or in the exact statement 
of a rule not yet sufficiently illuminated by examples. 
Generally such careful, exhaustive analyses are suited 
only to advanced pupils who have already acquired a 
clear knowledge of their subjects. In beginning any 
important topic in arithmetic, children should first 
become familiar with a process by repeated oral and 
written problems. If they can work these prob- 
lems and give short, intelligent answers as to 
the reasons, it is enough. By such simple ques- 
tions and answers, the teacher can tell if a child 
understands a problem, and more than this is often 
mere vexation of spirit. The recitation period is 
often wasted and the children vexed and confused by 
such long-winded analyses and statement of rules. 

Over-exactness in defining the meaning of words in 
the reading lesson leads also to a waste of time and a 
wearisome routine. Such excess of verbal precision 
may give a little clearer insight, but it is often gained 
at the expense of interest and enthusiasm for the 
subject. It is very depressing. 

Summing up : inability to state the generalization 
reached is due primarily to vagueness of thought; 
such a statement, then, is an essential part of instruc- 
tion. The wording for the same should come from 
the child himself, being an immediate outgrowth from 
the data that he has at hand ; this is especially impor- 
tant, since any rule is likely to be forgotten, and unless 
it can be recalled without help, the utility of the 



206 METHOD OF RECITATION 

knowledge is greatly diminished. The book's state- 
ment may be memorized, but not unless it seems to 
voice the child's own feeling. If possible, a classical 
form of expression should be found for the generali- 
zation. If the precaution here advised in approach- 
ing the generalization is in place, it is apparent how 
ridiculous it is to place the general before chil- 
dren, even before the individual facts have been pre- 
sented, as is often done. 



CHAPTER IX 

HOW SHOULD GENERAL NOTIONS BE APPLIED ? 

What worth have these general truths which have when shall 
been gained at such expense of labor on the part of Jfo^nTfprin- 
both teachers and pupils ? We may stop a moment ^^p^^^ ^^ 

acquired? 

to take account of our work done, and of the task 
that still lies before us. In the previous chapters we 
have dealt somewhat in detail with the series of steps 
necessary to the construction of those general notions 
which, properly fitted together, constitute the chief 
framework of a study. When the children have 
worked their way to a clear grasp of these general 
notions, by a self-active, inductive process of thinking, 
have they not reached the end sought by instruction ? 
If so, the goal set up is a clear view of important 
principles. To those who look upon the school as a 
place of preparation in contrast with later life as a 
field of appHcation, this is the goal of school studies. 
But this leaves unsolved the child's most difficult 
problem ; namely, the acquisition of skill in the ready 
use of principles. It has been said over and over 
again by the best teachers and writers on education 
that principles and rules are never safely mastered 

207 



208 METHOD OF RECITATION 

till they have settled into the usual practice and con- 
duct of a child. " For from repeated cautions and 
rules, never so often inculcated, you are not to 
expect anything either in this or any other case fur- 
ther than practice has established them into habits." 
(Locke, par. lo," Thoughts on Education.") If children 
are to know how to apply important principles in later 
life, when shall they acquire the extremely difficult art 
of application ? There may be a whole series of abor- 
tive efforts in education due to this disposition to call 
a halt in the mental movement before the final result 
in the form of useful application is reached. 
Errors on the The first of thcsc crrors was seen above in the 
cadon°^^^^'' '^^^^^^ mastery of rules and principles without clear 
insight. No matter how fluently and trippingly a 
child in the schoolroom may run off such formulae, 
the whole process of learning may be empty and 
farcical. At the other extreme, the most complete 
theoretical mastery of principles will not give profi- 
ciency in their practical use. One may master the 
grammar of the German language and still cut a most 
blundering figure in German conversation. Between 
the extremes of rote-learning and of clear insight into 
principles there may be an entire series of miscar- 
riages. But even beyond the step of clear insight 
there may be the greatest miscarriage of all in the 
failure to turn clearly recognized rules into use. 
The end of instruction has not been reached until 
skill in the actual application has been developed. 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 2O9 

We deceive ourselves again and again by stopping at 
halfway stations on the highway of learning. We 
are not simply sight-seers, to be satisfied with fine 
views, not caring to reach any destined point. 

One who has worked his way up to the clear grasp The breadth 
of some important principle stands at a high point of fpp^iia-^ 
and gets a broad survey. A survey of what.? Of the ^>°"s- 
road he has already travelled, and in part also of that 
which he is still to traverse. That is, he has a double 
task- to perform : first, to look backward and see the 
extent to which the principle operates in what he 
already knows ; and, second, to look forward and apply 
it to the new problems which he is about to meet. 
Both these things are difficult. But they are difficul- 
ties which lie of necessity in the path of knowledge. 
As when travellers ascend some broad mountain 
range, till they reach at last the summit of the high- 
est ridge, from which they look back over the slopes 
behind and forward on their journey through moun- 
tains and plains, so the student, as he rises to the 
grasp of some large principle, looks back over the 
steps already traversed and forward to those which 
follow. The discovery of a great principle is no 
doubt a long forward step, but it may take all the 
rest of one's life to find out the breadth and variety 
of its applications. The first grasp of such a princi- 
ple, be it never so clear, is only a foretaste of the 
richer fruitage it will still bear. When Columbus 
first landed on the shores of the Bahamas, he had 



210 METHOD OF RECITATION 

indeed solved a great problem, and had gone far 
toward establishing his general theory; but there 
was a bigger problem to be solved, both as to the 
continents of America and as to the extent of the 
world whole. Since Darwin first expounded the law 
of evolution, it has been applied by scientists in 
scores of directions only vaguely contemplated by 
Darwin himself. Macaulay, on the basis of the prin- 
ciples of common law in England, worked out a ser- 
viceable plan for the administration of justice in the 
courts of India. How the world is astonished from 
time to time by new applications of the power of 
electricity which operates under certain laws ! Every 
new principle discovered becomes an instrument of 
investigation, a lever for prying open new secrets. 
General notions, the more we grow up to them, be- 
come more and more the interpreters of our prob- 
lems, the keys which, like the open sesame, unlock 
and swing open many long-closed doors. Nature 
everywhere locks the door and bars out the in- 
truder. But whoever carries a bundle of bright keys 
in the form of principles and laws, and is constantly 
turning and testing them in use, will rapidly gain 
the freedom of the realm. This is, indeed, the goal 
toward which instruction should move, and never 
lag till the end is reached ; namely, such a working 
mastery of general truths as shows itself in ready 
instinctive tact in common use. The great fact here 
to be kept in mind is, then, that the value of general 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 211 

truths lies in the freedom and versatility with which 
we can turn them into use. 

We see now a great defect in much of our knowl- The difficulty 
edge, and why it is so halting and unserviceable when Jheo1y\^o^ 
called into sudden action under the emergencies Practice. 
of Ufe. The old adage teaches that knowledge is 
power. 

But the power of the school-trained man so often 
suffers a partial or complete paralysis in times of 
need Jthat this old proverb seems only half true, or 
in cases not true at all. Its truth depends upon the 
meaning which is read into the word knowledge. 
Undigested, unorganized knowledge is not power. 
Knowledge which has never been tested in use, 
never worked over into habit, is not power. Knowl- 
edge, stored away in the half-forgotten recesses of 
the mind and even in the time of learning not clearly 
understood, is not power. 

The old question of the relation between theory 
and practice is here at issue. The prevailing ques- 
tion in school is, What do you know.? But life 
insistently demands. What can you do } and since 
school prepares for life it should meet this demand. 
In the case of many reputedly well-educated people, 
there is a wide breach between their knowledge and 
their power to do. It is the duty of the school to 
make the ability to do a part of the knowing. 

The boy who wishes to be a sailor has acquired 
some knowledge of ships and of seafaring life. He 



212 METHOD OF RECITATION 

has heard stories and read books of travel and 
adventure in foreign lands. In fancy he dreams of 
delightful voyages, and is only disenchanted by the 
rough usage of real sailor life. But this inuring to 
hardship and rough usage is a necessary preparation 
for good seamanship. 

The errand boy in the bank office forecasts his 
easy success as a great banker, but tires under the 
long routine and industry of working his way to a 
complete knowledge of the business. The young 
student of agriculture has vivid theories of the revo- 
lution needed in farming ; but the careful and con- 
stant labor required for keeping down expenses and 
losses, while securing profits, leads to wisdom and 
thrift. 

But failure and miscarriages are not confined to 
young people. Older persons constantly blunder in 
measuring the distance and difficulty between an 
idea and its realization. In consequence life is 
strewn with wrecks. The unrealized schemes and 
half-executed projects of business men everywhere 
cumber the ground. If the schools, therefore, can 
induce any habits which bring thought and action, 
knowing and doing, into vital union, they will per- 
form a great service to society. 

There are certain situations in life where such a 
close relation between theory and practice can be 
witnessed. The boy brought up by a prudent father 
to the hard and varied work of the farm, daily welds 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 21 3 

his thought and experience into union. His prac- 
tice keeps pace with his knowledge. The young 
recruits of Prussia are inured, even in time of peace, 
to the hardships of war. The best preparation of a 
soldier is to experience the drills, marches, hard- 
ships, and manoeuvres of army life. This kind of 
training makes the soldier a veteran before he has 
seen a battle. Our medical schools, by means of 
laboratories, dissections, and clinical operations, come 
as near as possible to making expert physicians of 
their students before allowing them to practice. In 
trade and polytechnic schools, students are brought, 
by dealing with the actual materials and processes 
of their work, to skill and mastery of the mechanic 
arfs. In all these cases the school is formed into 
the closest possible resemblance to life. In law 
schools, by moot courts ; in theological schools, by 
drill in preaching ; in normal schools, by practice 
departments, there is a close approximation to the 
actual difficulties of later professional work. 

But does this law of close and inseparable com- should the 
panionship between knowledge and its use prevail school relate 
also in common school studies ? It is easy to see that knowledge to 

•^ practice. 

professional schools of all sorts must lay great 
stress upon the use of knowledge, because each of 
them aims directly at practical efficiency in a single 
calling. But the common schools are not designed 
to fit children directly for particular callings. The 
knowledge they give fits equally for all callings. 



214 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Now it will be acknowledged that the general culture 
acquired in the common schools is just as essential to 
complete living as is the particular knowledge gained 
in law, or dentistry, or engineering. But has it the 
same . close relationship to practice ? Why not ? 
Mere knowledge is not what we are after in common 
schools any more than in a chemical laboratory, but 
I rather character as expressed in conduct. Character 
is the union of theory with practice ; it is the incor- 
poration of knowledge into habit. If character is 
being formed in school years, just to that extent 
knowledge of some sort is being converted into use, 
changed into habit. 

But the school is inclined to lose sight of this 
measure of its efficiency, to shift the responsibiHty for 
character, and to set up an artificial standard of 
excellence. The present prevailing school standard 
is an intellectual grasp of knowledge, tested by ex- 
aminations ; unfortunately this test does not reach 
far enough. Oftentimes it falls far short of the final 
test of power to use. When a child in a history or 
reading lesson appreciates an example showing the 
bad effects of sudden and uncontrolled anger, he has 
caught a clear view of an important truth in life ; but 
no one will claim that the lesson is really learned till 
he is prepared to curb his own anger under provok- 
ing circumstances. During the recitation, at recess, 
and upon the playground the teacher has better and 
more important opportunities for testing the best 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 21 5 

ideas in conduct than the written examination can 
furnish. 

We all admit that the application of truth must 
come sooner or later, but when shall this be ? Is it 
safe to postpone the use of knowledge to later years ? 
Doubtless we shall have much need for it later on. 
But shall we be able to bring it into use in future 
years unless we habituate ourselves to its use dur- 
ing the period of acquisition ? Children are in the 
full tide of life. They show many-sided activity. 
Conduct is not a future contingency, but a present 
fact. They have all sorts of duties and responsibil- 
ities. There will never be a time when the child will 
have more varied uses for his knowledge than now. 
But the habit of separating knowledge from use is in 
itself pernicious, and when formed in youth is a pos- 
itive obstruction to success in mature life. Is it any 
less important that a child should put in practice day 
by day the merits and virtues of his early training 
than that a plumber, during his apprenticeship, should 
learn the technique of his work in iron. Is it any 
more necessary that a theological student should 
learn to make and deliver sermons at the seminary 
than that a boy in school should learn to be self- 
reliant and honest in board work } 

Many of the most important lessons of life must 
be learned and converted into habit long before pro- 
fessional studies are begun. Before the boy decides 
to be a merchant or a dentist, he must decide whether 



2l6 METHOD OF RECITATION 

he will be an honest man or a rogue, a law-abiding 
citizen or a disturber, narrow and bigoted, or charitable 
and liberal. Until these things are settled, and settled 
right, it is an impertinence to talk of a profession. 
The danger The incomplete and theoretical character of much 
the"app^Hca-^ school knowledge is brought to light by the perfunc- 

tionofknowi- ^Qj-y g^nd half -hearted action of children while en- 
edge. '' 

gaged in school work. Good study, like good eating, 

is marked by reHsh and appetite. But where zest is 
lacking, work is spiritless and without healthy tone. 
When the strong life impulses pour themselves 
through the school studies the latter then become a 
part of the child's deeper character-forming experi- 
ence ; that is, an organic part of life, not dead matter 
wedged in between the living tissues. Children 
should be occupied with studies which spring out of 
and return into their interests, which call out the full 
measure of their volitional, emotional, and active 
powers as well as the intellectual, all of which to- 
gether give complete expression to their life impulses. 
A theoretical, bookish knowledge, to which our 
school work is sometimes limited, not only gives a 
torpid intellectual growth, but it dwarfs the social 
activities. It is fractional and does not compass a 
child's whole life, nor reach far enough into his own 
deeply felt experience and need. It does not fill up 
the measure of a child's spontaneous action. And 
this many-sided spontaneous activity of children is 
their mode of applying knowledge to life. 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 21/ 

If we neglect some of the normal phases of child- 
activity, as, for instance, the volitional and motor 
energies used in applying knowledge, why should we 
expect later life to make good the deficiency ? How 
can a schooling which is not full enough to satisfy a 
child's present limited needs prepare for the wider, 
more complex life that follows school? Adult life 
is an expansion of child life. If the boy is a theo- 
rist, seeking no useful outlet for knowledge, the man 
will probably show the same traits in an accentuated 
degree. If the child life is incomplete and fractional, 
adult life will show the same defects. The only kind 
of knowledge that will stand the test of later years 
is that which has linked itself with conduct and has 
thus appeared in that final form by which its value is 
tested and its assimilation into life rendered complete. 
To make use of knowledge as it accumulates day by 
day is to rescue it from theoretical isolation, is to 
yoke it to service under the coercion of daily needs. 

It is a praiseworthy economy of mental labor to 
sift out from studies that knowledge which is widely 
and constantly serviceable, and to mass the effort 
upon this as indispensable. For its supreme worth 
or worthlessness comes out only in use. 

It is a mistake to collect a large body of princi- Howecon- 
ples and facts which have no present, and only a fg^afnedby 
possible future use — waste material, which is an an- theappiica- 

^ tion of pnn- 

noyance in the learning and a burden to the memory, dpies. 
The simple principles of the English language come 



2l8 METHOD OF RECITATION 

hourly into practice, and this is a test of their value 
as being worth learning. When this test is con- 
stantly made, education is stripped of waste and 
verbiage. We need to concentrate our efforts along 
a few important channels. Education, like the waters 
in the delta of the Mississippi, loses depth and 
carrying power as it spreads out into divergent chan- 
nels. Captain Eads's plan of the jetties of the 
Mississippi River was to collect as much water as 
possible into a single narrow channel, and to scour 
out a serviceable passage across the bar. Likewise, 
the accumulation of thinking power upon those few 
principles in each study which have central impor- 
tance and perpetual application is the true economy 
of mental effort. Studies which fall short of this 
useful goal cultivate theorizing and even do-noth- 
ing habits. 

Both the faults as well as the merits in knowledge 
are brought out by use. In the effort to use acquired 
knowledge the partial or erroneous views come dis- 
tinctly to light. Just as a piece of machinery when 
put into operation reveals at once any friction or 
imperfection of construction, so knowledge newly 
acquired is thoroughly tested in its application. In 
learning a modern language, like French, the daily 
and hourly effort to use the new rules brings out a 
multitude of blunders, but at the same time begets 
constant improvement and mastery of the language. 
If newly gathered knowledge is not put to service, 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 219 

these difficulties do not appear, and we are led to a 
false security, a self-satisfied but empty presumption 
of knowledge. 

On account of this varied stress upon the use of is it utiiita- 
knowledge, can we be charged justly with lowering slrrsfon^ 
the standard of education, with forgetting higher application? 
things for the sake of direct utility? There is a 
lower form of utility which reduces everything to 
the standard of dollars and cents. This, of course, 
is to be rejected. The most important uses of knowl- 
edge and power cannot be estimated in money, as, 
for example, the services of a parent or teacher or 
friend, and it is these higher uses of knowledge 
which it is the preeminent purpose of the school to 
cultivate. The great principle of utility is right and 
has universal value. The best thing that can be said 
of science or philosophy or religion is that it serves 
human needs. The doctrine of service is too vital 
and too deeply felt in our Christian civilization to 
need any defence. By their fruits ye shall know 
them. We have, in the service rendered, an infalli- 
ble test of the value of the man. Knowledge is valu- 
able just to the extent to which it can be transmuted 
into some form of useful service. 

The application of general truths falls under the Howappiica- 

1 -1 r T T • rr^i n r -J *io" enlarges 

head of deduction. The first four steps are mduc- the scope of 
tive, leading up from particulars to generals ; the last principles, 
step is deductive. Does the deductive process ex- 
pand and amplify our experience, or does it simply 



220 METHOD OF RECITATION 

give quickness and tact in the use of what we have 
learned ? It is evident that the inductive process of 
deriving the general truth can touch only a few 
cases, i.e. is narrow in its range. In treating Minne- 
apolis as a trade centre and as a type of cities on 
the upper Mississippi, a general truth about cities as 
centres of trade for collecting, manufacturing, and dis- 
tributing products was evolved. But in applying this 
truth (deductive) to the lake cities we find the situa- 
tion similar yet different. Albany and Troy, Ban- 
gor and Augusta, St. John and Montreal, furnish 
still further examples of trade centres in lumber, but 
under quite changed circumstances. Pittsburg and 
Allegheny are fine illustrations of the notion trade 
centre in other products, yet still more divergent from 
Minneapolis than those mentioned before. Should we 
compare Minneapolis with Liverpool, Glasgow, Ham- 
burg, and Naples, we should find the same notion 
operative under still more widely differing surround- 
ings and conditions. In other words, the continued 
application of the idea trade certtre to new cities not 
only enlarges the number of objects falling within 
the scope of the idea, but multiplies the variety of 
objects coming under its sway. 

In the study of the milkweed butterfly the first 
inductive treatment of this topic is confined mainly 
to this one species, but in applying the general idea 
of metamorphosis to other butterflies we find great 
variety in size, color, food-plants, habitat, and organs. 



<J 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 221 

Extending this application to moths, another large 
and curious field of insect life is brought under trib- 
ute. Finally, in referring the idea of metamorphosis 
to flies and other insects, we are astonished at the 
simplicity of the law that pervades so great a variety 
of insect life. In the application of such a general 
principle or law we are constantly introduced to new 
and varied fields of knowledge, whose meaning is 
more quickly interpreted and more intensely felt 
because of its identification with what we have 
already learned. 

Moreover, this constant variation and readjustment Howversatii- 
of the principle to new objects and conditions neces- !„ applying^ 
sitates a genuine thoughtfulness at every step. It is principles. 
not a mechanical routine which simply repeats the 
same action time and again. To apply general notions 
requires a rational self -activity. We never meet 
exactly the same situation a second time. The stu- 
dent in this case is like the pilot of a Mississippi 
steamboat. He must know not only the large bends 
and currents of the river, but also the shifting of 
sand-bars, the new obstructions and snags, the 
changes that follow a freshet in cut-offs, and shift- 
ings of the channel ; in other words, he must be alive 
to constant alterations and emergencies. Or as with 
the military strategist, in directing the movements of 
an army, every day brings a new situation, makes 
necessary a recombination of forces. Arithmetic il- 
lustrates the point perfectly. Every new problem is 



222 METHOD OF RECITATION 

a new and somewhat modified application of the prin- 
ciple, and as the boy advances to more difficult mis- 
cellaneous problems, he meets more complex and 
intricate embodiments of his principle. This fits him 
to meet the usual conditions and necessities of life. 
Every day brings a new situation requiring thought- 
fulness in applying knowledge to new conditions. 

In bringing up children in the same family we 
have a striking illustration of the necessity of modi- 
fying our application of principles to suit different in- 
dividualities. A writer like Spencer can give a lucid 
statement of the universal truths upon which the 
management and proper training of children should 
be based. A father tries them upon one child in the 
family and they seem to work admirably. He begins 
upon the next child in the same way, but the method 
seems totally at fault. Is it really a weakness in the 
principles or in the clumsy method of applying them } 
He forgets to modify and adapt them to the new 
character. This adaptation of a principle to changed 
or more complex conditions is what makes the applica- 
tion of knowledge so difficult. It demands constant 
thoughtfulness and prudence. There are, indeed, 
kinds of business, fragments of trades in factories 
and shops which call for an invariable and exact rou- 
tine ; for instance, the carpenter who makes one in- 
variable design, the operator who simply nails heels 
to shoes, or the switchman who pulls the levers of an 
interlocking switch. But these people do not de- 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 223 

velop strength and versatility of character; in fact, 
they are in danger of becoming fixed in a narrow 
routine which unfits them for doing anything else 
when thrown out of employment. 

From this standpoint of flexibility in the use of why exact 
knowledge (as already discussed also in Chapter VI) ^oTtiTe best 
we are able to estimate the value of a review system f°^"^ ^^ 

1 • 1 • 1 1 -I .1, , application. 

which Simply repeats and drills upon the exact form 
of thought and expression which was first learned. 
There is, indeed, no objection to the exact formula- 
tion-of a general truth nor to memorizing it ; but flexi- 
bility in its application is more important than verbal 
accuracy in its statement. 

The stated reviews which drill and redrill upon 
a form of words rather than upon a quick interpre- ' 
tation of a principle under changes and disguises is 
a cramping routine. It is much more important 
that a child shall get a quick, firm grasp of a gen- 
eral truth, in spite of its Proteus-Uke changes of form, 
than that he should be held to an invariable formula 
in its statement. Excessive routine drills and repe- 
titions give thought a certain cast-iroji inflexibility. 
This fixedness makes knowledge unmalleable. It is 
like cold iron in the hands of a blacksmith. Our 
generalized thought needs to be made wonderfully 
pliant and flexible so as to shape itself to a thousand 
diversities of form. Some minds have a photographic 
accuracy in regard to principles and details, but 
mental photographing is not the higher form of 



224 METHOD OF RECITATION 

thinking. Thought when rationalized in principles 
must be plastic and versatile. 

The best form of review, therefore, is that which 
springs out of comparisons, which finds in the new 
lessons amplifications of old principles, which makes 
every lesson a review of old knowledge in the light 
of new experience. Incidental reviews and compari- 
sons, by which every new topic is incorporated into 
the body of our previous experiences, are the rational 
form of study. It is constantly making over, modi- 
fying, and expanding the old thought material. The 
stated periodical review presupposes a static condition 
in knowledge ; such knowledge, when finally salted 
down, partakes of the nature of a petrifaction and 
lacks that fluidity and pervasiveness which make it 
penetrate and permeate every nook and avenue of 
experience. 
Can pliancy But principles losc noue of their strength and sta- 
ge together? ^i^ity by being rendered pliant and flexible. Their 
constant reappearance and identification among all 
the forms of experience show that they are con- 
stantly elaborated out of past thought and action, 
and stand ready to measure up and test new data. 
Each person grows out of his own past into the 
future. The field for the wider application of princi- 
ples is our own present and new-entering experience, 
not some terra incognita to be revealed in adult life. 
Our own daily life and surroundings furnish the 
perpetual test of our growing maxims. The discovery 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 225 

of such pervading principles strengthens the per- 
sonality and gives a centre and foundation for the 
character to rest upon, from which it is not easily 
moved. It is when we fail to find an anchorage in 
such fixed yet flexible principles that we shift from 
day to day. This pliancy of knowledge can be 
secured largely in the natural order of studies. 

Our examination of the school studies has given Mastery of 
striking proofs of the necessity for the perpetual reiTted'fo^^ 
use of knowledge, following close upon the heels of ^^^^ variety 

' . . . . ofappli- 

acquisition. It is indeed a serious question whether cation. 
it is real knowledge until it has been apprenticed to 
use in a variety of ways. When one or two arith- 
metical problems have been worked out to illustrate 
and fix a rule, it is not claimed that the principle is 
fully understood. To insure more thoroughness in 
its mastery, problems of increasing difficulty are 
worked out and explained. Further on, miscellaneous 
problems, involving this rule in conjunction with 
others, are solved. All along the quickness and 
versatility of the children are exercised upon mental 
problems involving the same rules. Even after all 
these devices and tests for insuring a clear recogni- 
tion of the rule, under the various disguises in which 
it masquerades, teachers are often discouraged by 
the pupil's apparent blindness to the principle. The 
whole round of inductions and applications, if neces- 
sary, must be repeated. Among various difficulties, 
the hardest thing in the whole course of instruction 

Q 



226 METHOD OF RECITATION 

is to learn to use knowledge rationally. Memory 
work is trivial compared with this kind of thinking 
power. This fatal weakness shows itself among 
college men, scholars, and among all classes of even 
so-called educated people. 

The same difficulty is met in trying to get the 
mastery of good English. Language lessons empha- 
size certain correct forms and usages, e.g. a drill 
upon the rule for irregular verbs or pronouns. The 
children see the old error, understand the principle, 
and apply it to a few sentences. But wrong lan- 
guage habits are not cured and remodelled by such 
brief exercises. In geography and science lessons, 
in reading and history, the children should run their 
language into these new and better moulds. Else 
why have them } Or, if you Hke, let them disregard 
in history and geography the correct usage learned 
in language. The children are encouraged by our 
indifference and neglect to violate the principles 
which we have just been so anxious to inculcate (in 
another study). What is our teaching, then, other 
than a succession of contradictions } What greater 
inconsistency can we devise than to teach earnestly 
the value of a correct principle in one recitation, and 
then encourage children to ignore it in the practice 
of the next } What is worth learning in one lesson 
is worth practising in all others where it naturally 
reappears. In reading we insist on a certain excel- 
lence and weed out the faults. It is equally impor- 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 227 

tant to require an expressive reading when reading 
is incident to grammar, arithmetic, or history. This 
will make good reading natural and habitual. Like- 
wise, if a round, vertical script is required in writing 
lessons, let the same excellent penmanship appear in 
composition exercises, in arithmetic, in board work, 
briefly in all necessary written work. 

In view of the principle of consistency just stated, Each study a 
l|. we conclude that anyone study clearly emphasizes cation fo?^'" 
certain ideas and principles peculiar to that subject, other studies, 
till they stand out, in theory at least, with clearness. 
The other studies furnish just the necessary addi- 
tional opportunity for applying these ideas and prin- 
ciples till they are converted into habit and become 
established in all regular usage. In pointing out 
this close connection we see how indispensable the 
branches of school instruction are to one another. 
No study can stand upon its own feet. Complete 
efficiency requires that all studies stand close to- 
gether in mutual support. Complete isolation of 
different studies is extremely impractical because 
it destroys this opportunity for utilizing knowledge. 
If knowledge is not complete till it is worked over 
into regular practice, it is just as important to apply 
knowledge gained in one study to other studies as 
to get the theoretical mastery of each study within 
its own realm. 

This unity and interdependence of different studies 
and experiences is still more vital in the important 



228 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



Moral train- 
ing weak on 
the side of 
application. 



realm of moral education. Moral instruction, by 
itself, can effect little if anything. The moral ideas 
scattered through reading, history, and literature, 
no matter how beautiful and impressive they may 
be, need to reappear in all the studies, and especially 
in all the conduct incidental to the discipline and 
social order of the school. Perhaps the chief reason 
for the prevailing scepticism in regard to the value of 
moral instruction in schools is that it is too theoretical, 
too much divorced from practice. Efficient morality 
always finds an expression in conduct, in the appli- 
cation of moral principles to behavior. In this respect 
there is no study or phase of school life that does not 
need to be, in its entire inception and progress, moral. 
So important is the practice of the virtues as com- 
pared With their theoretical treatment that many 
people have gone to the extreme of putting the 
whole emphasis upon the practice, and of giving no 
place for instructive examples and illustrations of 
moral ideas. As if conduct, the highest and most 
difficult of all arts, had no theoretical basis and no 
rational approach, through instruction, to its diffi- 
culties and opportunities. The subject-matter of 
some of the school studies is prolific in moral and 
social ideas and examples, while all the studies, 
plays, recesses, and social experience of the school 
furnish a broad field of conduct and realization. In- 
struction and theory must culminate in use or fall far 
short of any practical result. 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 229 

This entire discussion confirms us in the judgment 
that the application of general truths to a great 
variety of uses is the fifth essential step in all good 
instruction. The school in all departments of in- 
struction should never limit itself to the theoretical 
treatment of studies, but the movement toward use 
and appHcation should be strong and should con- 
stantly pervade all school effort. Anything short 
of this is not real education but is fractional or even 
abortive. 

There are two important principles which not only The appU- 
demand, but constantly work out this translation of knowledge 
knowledge into power, into practical service; namely, byappercep- 
correlation and apperception. The examples just relation. 
given of the close interdependence of studies fur- 
nish one of the strongest arguments in favor of 
correlation. Apperception in every lesson emphasizes 
the turning of our laccumulated store of knowledge 
into service. The very definition of apperception 
shows that new information can only be acquired 
and assimilated through the interpretive use of old 
ideas. Apperception throws a child back constantly 
upon his own resources ; upon the thoughtful use 
of acquired knowledge and experience. It makes 
no difference from what study or source the old 
knowledge springs. The geography lesson may 
draw its interpretive materials from reading, history, 
science, or the playground. The whole horizon of 
experience should be kept in sight of every study. 



cation. 



230 METHOD OF RECITATION 

This is the true thoughtfulness and self -activity. It 
is simply a restatement in pedagogical terms of 
the old parable of the talents, that what we have 
inherited or accumulated is for use and not for 
hoarding. 
How child The school then, like life itself, is as much a place 

mands appii- ^ ^^ applymg as for accumulating knowledge. The 
traditional idea of storing up knowledge against the 
evil day is narrowing and cramping in its influence 
upon child activity. The fact that children have 
quick memories and large receptive powers is not a 
safe ground for exclusive memory exercises. For 
children show such an overplus of activity in ex- 
pressing and using their fund of knowledge that the 
argument in favor of application is at least equally 
strong. The avenues through which knowledge can 
be turned into use in childhood, and in school life 
itself, are so numerous as to constitute a full share 
of legitimate child life. 

There is, therefore, a broad foundation upon 
which to base this demand for the full and com- 
plete expression of child life. Children are little men 
and women, and their impulses press on to a complete 
circuit of activity ; perceiving, knowing, feeling, will- 
ing, or doing. In this series, the productive and con- 
structive use of knowledge is as conspicuous as any 
other phase of effort. The doing always rounds out 
and perfects the knowing. Without pressing on to 
this final test of knowledge in use, the child's activ- 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 23I 

ity is prematurely arrested. On the other hand, 
education, by its excessively theoretical tendency, 
may produce a whole race of inefficient and imprac- 
tical men and women. 

In all the essentials of character and power such 
people are apt to be weak and worthless. They 
deceive themselves and others with the semblance 
of learning and education, but they are inexpert and 
bungling in important affairs. The storage theory of 
knowledge needs to be reenf orced by the present use 
theory, which organizes and unifies the incoming 
experience and gives it flexibility and aptness for 
still more important future service. 

To teach children how to apply their knowledge 
requires much painstaking care and patietice in the 
teacher. It is in their first efforts to apply knowl- 
edge that children are slow and bungling, and tax the 
long-suffering patience of teachers. Many a mother 
has made the fatal blunder of not letting her girls 
wash dishes or sew or make bread (even when they 
wanted to) because the girls were so awkward and 
blundering and unsuccessful in their first efforts. 
The mother prefers to do things herself rather than 
let the girls botch their work and waste materials. 
But the only road to success lies through this period 
of awkward and sometimes painful effort. 

Even with our present methods of teaching, the Amount of 

... . time now 

amount of time spent m applymg prmciples consti- ^^^^^ to 
tutes a large proportion of the available school time, application. 



232 METHOD OF RECITATION 

In arithmetic three-fourths of all the time is spent 
in applying rules to problems. In reading a still 
larger proportion is spent in the effort to put in 
practice the few simple principles of oral expres- 
sion. 

The one chief purpose of language lessons is to 
cultivate the proper use of the correct forms of oral 
and written language. In grammar the parsing and 
interpretation of the rules of etymology and syntax, 
that is, application, take up a large share of the 
study. In writing and spelling we may say that the 
purpose for which they are studied is the necessity 
of their constant use in other branches. Drawing 
is now felt to be largely tributary (in the common 
school grades) to the other studies because of the 
service it can render in more clearly defining their 
objects and conceptions. In history and geography 
it would be more difficult to show the immediate uses 
of the knowledge acquired. This, however, is largely 
due to our faulty methods of memorizing facts, in- 
stead of studying out these facts in their important 
relations and uses. A general view of our school 
studies, as now taught, will show how fundamental 
is the principle of the application of knowledge. 

But in order to secure the proper kind of think- 
ing, self-activity, and organization of knowledge, 
still tnore time will have to be given to application. 
We are not wasting time when we stop and wait for 
children to think out the relations and use of what 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 233 

they are learning. We may, indeed, seem to move 
slowly, but we are moving as fast as their thinking 
power will permit. It takes time for children to 
think out and adapt these principles to new and 
changed conditions. To neglect the cultivation of 
such thinking power as this for the sake of a little 
verbal fluency and memory drill, is short-sightedness 
and even folly. 

In saying that the effort to apply knowledge is Power to 
laborious, and that school study is thus rendered edgXs T'^" 
more rigorous and severe, we may seem to be laying source of 

energy. 

an uncalled-for burden upon school children. But 
children will find in such applied study rich com- 
pensation for their effort. The truest satisfaction 
of all study comes from the conscious power to make 
ready use of it. Knowledge is always something of 
a burden and a discouragement till it has found an 
outlet in some definite form of utility. There is no 
point where we can stop in this movement toward 
knowledge and feel sure of its value, until the goal 
of useful application is reached. The real irksome- 
ness and discouragement of study do not spring 
from proper efforts at application, but from the dull, 
often meaningless, memory drills, which do not even 
reach forward to clear knowledge, to say nothing of 
power to apply. Knowledge, which thus ends in a 
blind alley, and finds no entrance into the thorough- 
fares of life, is a deadening influence in our schools. 
It produces stagnation in voluntary effort, while 



W 



234 METHOD OF RECITATION 

successful application of newly gathered knowl- 
edge leads out into the clear sunlight of conscious 
power. 

Children who have learned to apply one lesson 
thoroughly are ready and eager to grapple with new 
problems. There is no better test of successful 
progress in studies than this power to render prac- 
tical account of our possessions, and there is no 
better guarantee for future energetic effort. 

One conclusion that springs from this entire dis- 
cussion is that the proper use of knowledge has to be 
learned. It does not come by accident or inadvert- 
ence, but is the result of definite purpose and rigor- 
ous effort. Even if later life with its severer tests 
were not to follow, the school would need the tonic 
of this kind of effort to adapt and use knowledge 
in order to bring school work to proper unity and 
completeness. 

We may now glance back at the lesson unit, in the 
treatment of which application is the final step. In 
working up to a general truth or concept through 
particulars, we have followed the inductive move- 
ment through the steps of preparation, presentation, 
comparison, and generalization. A single central 
thought which lies at the root of the lesson unity 
has dominated the entire movement. In the appli- 
cation we are still operating with this central truth, 
turning it about, testing it on new data, and detect- 
ing the various forms in which it clothes itself. The 



GENERAL NOTIONS APPLIED 235 

length of time, that is, the number of recitations 
required in working out this general truth through 
all the five steps, depends upon the simplicity or 
complexity of the central truth itself, and the 
amount of data required to develop and apply it. 



CHAPTER X 

THE VALUE OF TYPES 

Relation of The magnet which lies at the centre of every 
unltv to°the weighty lesson is the general tnith which is to be 
general truth, worked out and applied. The entire foregoing dis- 
cussion of the succession of steps in the handling 
^ of a lesson unity unfolds the growth of a general 

truth in the mind, A proper lesson unity is a topic 
which has such an embryo truth in it, and the lesson 
process follows the growth of the truth in the child's 
mind up to maturity and fruitage. This elaboration 
of a general truth involves the complete circuit of 
mental action from the observation and comparison 
of particulars up to the clear grasp of the general 
notion, and back again to a broad and ready inter- 
pretation in its light of the varying objects and situa- 
tions in life. 

All the illustrative lesson unities in Chapters II 
and X are examples of the working out and appli- 
cation of such general truths. In irrigation is ex- 
plained the process by which water from rivers and 
lakes is brought upon arid lands and utilized. This 
process, with modifications, is the same for hun- 
dreds of irrigating ditches, and presents one of those 

2^6 



VALUE OF TYPES 237 

general truths of agriculture which deserves our 
attention. In the battle of King's Mountain the 
independent spirit and energy of the common peo- 
ple are exhibited in a striking and successful raid 
against the English troops. By a close comparison 
we find this same spirit at Bennington. When we 
come to expand this truth, and interpret other events 
in its light, as, for example, Bunker Hill and The 
Cowpens, we find this spirit breaking out on many 
important occasions. In other words, a general truth 
is strongly suggested by the careful study and com- 
parison of two battles, and this is the chief reason 
for their elaborate presentation. The study of 
Minneapolis and the other cities of the Northwest 
was to set forth in clear and unmistakable outlines 
the general notion of a trade centre in lumber and 
flour. The rule for the addition of fractions, the 
metamorphosis of the milkweed butterfly, the Golden 
Touch, and national unity illustrate the same cen- 
tering of a whole lesson unity in a single thought or 
general notion. How to get at these general truths 
is undoubtedly the one problem of recitation method. 

How far does the study of types render us direct The relation 
aid in the struggle to master general truths.? The tiie general 
very word type seems to bridge the chasm between t^"^^- 
the particular and the general. The type itself 
is always an object, a particular thing, action, or 
process ; but in so far as it is a type, it is a repre- 
sentative object, it stands for a whole class, the 



induction? 



238 METHOD OF RECITATION 

features of a general truth shine out more distinctly 
through it than through other objects of the same 
class. We say that Peter Cartwright was a type of 
the backwoods itinerant preachers. Garrison was 
a type of the uncompromising abolitionists, Asa 
Gray, of scientific students, Spurgeon, of Baptist 
preachers of England ; but in the typical or repre- 
sentative man the general truth seems to stand out 
enlarged, magnified, more forcible and tangible than 
in the average man, in whom it seems to be obscured 
by dulness or personal defects. 
Is the type a A type, therefore, has all the interest and con- 
s ort-cutin Q^ete intensity of a particular or personal and con- 
spicuous object, while at the same instant it displays 
to the thoughtful person the clear outline of a general 
truth. This does not appear to the child at first as 
a general truth, but a little later, by comparison, it 
is brought out clearly. If general truths are what 
we aim at, and if the type points the way to the 
general truth with greater precision and strength, 
then why not select the best typical objects as the 
centres of our lesson unities .'* But in setting up 
ty/fes as the pivotal points in recitation method we 
are met at the threshold with vigorous objections. 
Are we trying to discover or invent a short-cut from 
the particular to the general notion ? Does not 
induction require that we study the individuals one 
by one before comparing and deriving the general 
notion ? In saying that a type is both particular 



VALUE OF TYPES 239 

and general, are we not throwing into confusion our 
whole inductive plan ? How can a child see a gen- 
eral notion in a single object before others have 
been brought to his notice? Of what value is the 
step of comparison if the type idea in a single object 
is so significant? 

The answer to these questions and objections 
may reveal to us more definitely than any other 
means the practical and modified working of the 
inductive process in dealing with the new forms of 
truth as they arise in children's minds. 

It must be confessed that the study of a type is a 
short-cut toward a general truth, but it is an abbrevia- 
tion of the process which the trained scientific, as 
well as the untutored, mind inevitably takes. 

A child first makes the acquaintance of its own 
father through a multitude of successive daily experi- 
ences, revealing many sides of his character. A little 
later, in meeting other fathers in the neighborhood, 
he is inclined to project this familiar notion of his own 
father into these other fatherly characters. Certain 
it is that he does not make a second, third, and fourth 
elaborate study of neighboring fathers, and then sit 
down and patiently compare them in order to discover 
the type idea. The dominant notion in the child's 
mind is the idea of his own father, and this is modi- 
fied from time to time by the incidental experiences 
met with in the neighborhood. Even the strict and 
exact scientist in collecting his data for later ultimate 



240 METHOD OF RECITATION 

comparison and conclusion, projects his previous ex- 
perience into every new experiment, avoiding errors 
and accelerating his observations by a constant refer- 
ence to previous knowledge. The ornithologist, who 
studies the stomachs of birds to determine the char- 
acter of their food, moves up gradually to his final 
conclusion, comparing each new specimen, in part at 
least, with the average of his previous data. 

Strict systematic induction, i.e. a careful observa- 
tion of one specimen or example after another and a 
later comparison, is almost never followed in the 
young student, and is only realized by the mature 
scientist. Only one or a very few objects are carefully 
observed, and a quick observation and comparison 
of a much wider field of similar objects is sufficient 
to set forth the general truth. Indeed, we cannot 
afford the time for a full and elaborate study of 
many specimens of a class. If we can find the time 
for a careful scrutiny of one or two oak trees, we can 
afford to take a swift or cursory glance at other oaks. 
For the average student this is all that can be ex- 
pected or desired. 
How com- And yet a clear general notion cannot be reached 

parison without Comparison. A number of similar objects 

reveals the ^ J 

type. must be brought together, and their differences and 

likenesses distinctly marked. It is only in this way 
that the generic properties can stand out as the basis 
of a general notion. It would be a waste of time to 
give a detailed description of more than one city in 



VALUE OF TYPES 24I 

the Northwest like Minneapolis, or of more than one 
irrigating ditch in the West. A very much briefer 
account of other lumbering cities and other irrigating 
ditches, with the distinguishing characteristics and 
differences, serves all the purposes of comparison. 

We cannot fail to observe that some objects are The number 
very much better types of the class to which they fjljfes^needtd. 
belong than others. Minneapolis is a very striking 
type of the lumber and flour city. The milkweed 
butterfly is a conspicuous common species of butter- 
flies* Daniel Boone is almost a perfect type of the 
backwoodsman and Indian fighter. The Hudson is 
a remarkably clear and majestic type of our naviga- 
ble rivers. Daniel Webster is our preeminent orator, 
much more distinctly so than Calhoun or John Quincy 
Adams or Sumner. Mount Shasta is a remarkable 
type of extinct volcanoes. Study it in the elaborate 
monograph by J. S. Diller, and make the brief com- 
parisons he suggests with other volcanoes, and you 
have an excellent treatise on volcanoes, and get a 
fine appreciation of the general truths which they all 
illustrate. Study the life of Samuel Adams in Hos^- 
mer's biography. You become intensely interested 
in a man of peculiar force of character. The scenes 
in Boston in which he figured as a controlling spirit 
are among the most picturesque and important events 
of the eighteenth century. Looked at from the 
standpoint of a personal history, it is as thrilling and 
instructive as one of the great novels. But compare 



242 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Samuel Adams with three or four other prominent 
characters about Boston, — Governor Hutchinson, 
James Otis, John Adams, and John Hancock, — and 
you will get at the very nucleus of New England his- 
tory during that most stirring period. After such a 
comparison you will see that Samuel Adams stands 
forth as the representative Puritan leader of New Eng- 
land, the acknowledged type and embodiment of the 
spirit which animated thousands of lesser Puritans. 

For all the practical purposes of life we must con- 
tent ourselves mainly with the study of such types. 
We have neither the time nor the strength to study 
all the Adamses in equal detail, to say nothing of 
all the Smiths and Browns. We simply cannot enter 
into the details of all the important statesmen, volca- 
noes, rivers, cities, or butterflies. Good teaching in 
most studies depends first of all upon a careful selec- 
tion of a few best types. Instead, therefore, of spread- 
ing our attention over a great multitude of facts, we 
pick out a few important centres. Around these we 
gather a large body of facts ; we trace out the causal 
relations of the central type object to its environment, 
and finally we discover by comparing it with other 
similar things that it is the representative of a law 
which repeats itself in scores or thousands of other 
cases. It stands at the head of an army of facts all 
of which obey the same command. 

But nearly all objects and phenomena in nature 
are essentially typical in their deeper-lying charac- 



VALUE OF TYPES 243 

|teristics. How, then, may we select among objects 
I all of which are types ? Even if all objects were 
^equally typical of the classes to which they belong, 
it would be a necessary economy of effort to pick 
out and make a careful study of a few, with later 
comparisons, in order to get a quick and sure mastery 
of the many. But objects differ greatly, as noted 
above, in their typical or representative power. The 
value of any type as the principal basis of a lesson 
unity (be it an event, a person, or a natural object) 
lies in the strength and reach of its representative 
qualities. The sunflower is a much more striking 
type of compound flower than is the wild aster or 
even the dandelion. The Colorado River is the most 
conspicuous type of canon-making streams. For ma- 
ture minds, at least, Shakespeare is one of the few 
best poets for study, because of the preeminence of 
the cardinal poetic qualities in him. And among 
the masterpieces of any great author some are more 
typical than others. Among the Waverley novels, 
for instance, "Ivanhoe" gives the most vivid and real- 
istic pictures of feudalism which Scott delights so 
much in portraying. In selecting the complete mas- 
terpieces of literature for regular use in reading 
classes, we cannot be satisfied with anything less 
than the best typical poems, essays, and speeches of 
our American and English masters. 

Some trees in the forest strike their roots deeper 
into the soil, spread their branches wider, and tower 



244 METHOD OF RECITATION 

higher than their fellows. This is far more the case 
in human life and history. Some men project their 
influence throughout whole nations and stand forth 
noticeably as representative leaders of millions of 
their fellow-citizens. Emerson in his ** Representa- 
tive Men "has shown clearly that their power lay in 
their ability to absorb into their own lives the great 
typical ideas and impulses that were abroad among 
their fellow-men. This simplifies history. It is only 
in this way that we feeble mortals can grasp the 
meaning of large, complex, political, and social phe- 
nomena. We see the essential features of a wide- 
spread movement incorporated into the striking 
personal traits of a Gladstone or Luther, and what 
was before complex and obscure flashes forth in a 
simplicity which the commonest intelligence can 
grasp. Some men have not only towered above their 
contemporaries, but have wrought an influence so 
colossal and so typical as to overshadow centuries 
and even thousands of years in the lives of great 
nations. Such were Homer, Moses, and Aristotle. 
Types as In all our preceding chapters we have had oppor- 

ways to^' tunity to see the variety and importance of general 
lesson truths in different studies. In our present discussion 

unities. 

we discover that these general truths clothe them- 
selves, to a large degree, in striking types. Peda- 
gogically considered, these types should stand at the 
entrance to the importa7it avenues of truth in nearly 
every study. This fact will be of great service to us 



VALUE OF TYPES 245 

when compelled to face the problem of selecting 
those topics in each study which contain the best 
lesson unities. This problem is now upon us in 
American schools. We are now sifting out and 
measuring up the school branches more thoroughly 
than ever before. The whole question of relative 
values of studies and of the comparative worth of 
different topics in a study is distinctly before our 
schoolmasters. The presumption of our present dis- 
cussion is that the key to the interpretation of this 
problem will be found in the selection of types. 

Summing up the answers to objections against the 
use of types, we may say : the well-selected type is 
a short-cut in the inductive thought movement from 
particular to general. But it is a short-cut which not 
only children but even scientific thinkers are com- 
pelled to take. The well chosen type is a combina- 
tion of the particular and the general, the graphic 
elements of the concrete being mingled with the 
striking features of the general notion. To disengage 
this general notion and bring it clearly into the light 
a comparison of several similar objects with the type 
is necessary. This is the natural and necessary 
method of abbreviating the inductive process. With- 
out confusion, therefore, the type combines the two 
fundamental elements of all clear thinking : first the 
concrete basis and second the outUne or index of a 
general truth. 

In surveying some prospective field of study, as 



instruction. 



246 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Types as grammar or geography, before approaching it with 
poLtfin children for purposes of conquest, shall we look 
upon it as a simple accumulation of facts, as a dead 
level of equally important truths, like so many hills 
of corn in a field, all to be cultivated with equal 
care, or as a few central truths to be completely 
mastered and applied ? Is the field of knowledge 
like a field of ripened wheat, swath after swath of 
which is levelled by the sturdy reaper till all is laid 
low ? We know that machines have been made to 
do this kind of monotonous, mechanical work even 
better than the sturdiest human arms. But the 
healthy acquisition of knowledge (in spite of its 
labor and partial drudgery) is not much like this 
monotonous level of mechanical effort. As one sur- 
veys a field of study he discovers that some facts are 
more important, tenfold, a hundred-fold more impor- 
tant than others. The field of knowledge resembles 
a mountainous district rather than a plain. To get 
the broadest views one must climb the highest ridges 
and summits. The knowledge embraced in any 
branch of study is not to be considered as a miscel- 
laneous accumulation of facts, nor even as a well- 
ordered but monotonous series of facts, to be simply 
memorized or stored away ; but it is a field of con- 
quest which can be best brought under control by 
taking possession of its strong, strategic positions. 

When the Prussians invaded France in 1870 they 
did not scatter themselves broadly over the whole 



VALUE OF TYPES 24/ 

of eastern France, stopping to plunder every village, 
city, and hamlet, but they concentrated their armies 
upon a few of the great frontier fortresses, till they 
had fought and forced them into surrender. When 
Strasburg and Metz and Sedan were taken, they had 
a firm hold on eastern France. They then turned 
the march of their converging hosts upon Paris, the 
citadel of France, with results which approved their 
wisdom. The reduction of the less important towns 
and districts was accomplished at their leisure. 

In a similar way we should plan the conquest of a 
field of knowledge. As teachers, therefore, there is 
laid upon us the necessity, before entering upon the 
conquest, of surveying the field and of selecting the 
strategic points (the lesson units) upon which we will 
concentrate our forces. 

It is interesting, by the way, to notice what How to sift 
masterly qualifications this implies in the person who °^ ^^^' 
lays out the series of lesson topics in a branch of 
study. It impUes a mastery of the subject far beyond 
what is commonly regarded as a knowledge of its 
facts. Facts must be sifted outy their relative worth 
and rank determined. The types must be chosen 
which are most important in their individual influence 
and in their representative character. A review of the 
types worked over in Chapters II and XI will show that 
any given type is important for two reasons : first, 
because it stands deeply rooted in a large environ- 
ment of facts, which find in it a central, controllings 



248 METHOD OF RECITATION 

idea; and, second, because of its representative quality, 
by which, even in this deep setting of environing 
facts, it proclaims the characteristics belonging to a 
large class. 

It may be stated as a general proposition that 
most of our lesson unities will find their embodiment 
in these types. But as all objects are more or less 
typical, and as every study contains ten times as 
many topics, all typical, as can be properly treated 
in school exercises, the necessity for a choice becomes 
apparent. It is customary to compromise this dif- 
ficulty by spreading effort equally over the whole 
body of facts, in geography, for example; but this 
is like the farmer trying to cultivate a thousand acres 
when he has just force enough to cultivate properly 
a hundred. Some types are many fold more important 
than others, both in their root-connections and in their 
exhibition of generic qualities. This is shown above 
by numerous examples. Children often spend as 
much, if not more, time in learning some trivial fact 
as in the effort to grasp some event whose deeper 
meaning spreads light far and wide throughout a 
whole subject. Such a fact, interpreted in its causal 
relations and seen in its representative character, may 
swing the intelligence into the track of some universal 
law, as of gravitation or of evolution. Examples of 
this preeminence of certain types may be found in 
many studies. The oak tree is such a type among 
trees and vegetation, the beaver among animals, the 



VALUE OF TYPES 249 

silkworm or butterfly among insects, Mount Washing- 
ton and Pike's Peak among mountains, the Mississippi 
among great rivers, Livingstone among explorers, 
Bismarck among statesmen, Darwin among scientists. 
Certain events in history stand out as landmarks. 
The year 1787 records a number of important events, 
among them the meeting of the constitutional con- 
vention at Philadelphia. At the time it probably at- 
tracted much less attention than our last presidential 
election. But consider what a tree was there planted, 
what a growth it has since had, and how it has spread 
its branches over a continent. The constitution then 
adopted not only brought into union and harmony 
the demoralized and antagonistic governments of the 
thirteen colonies, but determined beforehand the 
framework of new commonwealths as they have 
sprung up in rapid succession. Politically, we have 
been living for more than a hundred years in the 
house which they built. We elect our governors, 
judges, congresses, and presidents at the time and in 
the manner which they specified. The constitution 
has been of unmeasured influence upon our history 
for more than a century and will continue, in all 
probability, to augment its influence for centuries to 
come. We pride ourselves also that it has been the 
type of popular, democratic governments the world 
over. It has been the model upon which other free, 
representative states in South America and Europe 
have been constructed. In other words, in studying 



Y 



250 METHOD OF RECITATION 

the work of the federal convention, we are deaHng 
with a few of the fundamental principles of govern- 
ment in their preeminent type, the constitution of the 
United States. The meeting of the constitutional con- 
vention is an event of such transcendent importance, 
the causes which led up to it are so deeply rooted in 
the early history of the colonies, it brought together 
so many of the wisest heads of the time in great 
deliberate council, and the influences that have flowed 
from it are so vast, that we can afford to spend more 
time upon it than upon any other single event in 
American history. Other so-called important events of 
1787, as compared with this, are insignificant. 

The meaning of such an event lies in its deep 
generic quality and in its wide-reaching causal re- 
lations. Such a topic is a citadel of strength in his- 
torical study. It cannot be adequately surveyed in 
a single recitation. It will take many recitations to 
gather up and focus the necessary tributary facts, 
to organize them around the central event. But 
when it has been properly done, a view-point has been 
gained from which we may rationally survey and in- 
terpret a large extent of otherwise unrelated events. 
jypes asJ Now it is evident that if so much time is given to 

''enu-es!^"f ^^^ extended treatment of such an important event, 
a corresponding amount must be subtracted from the 
time now given to a number of lesser topics. It may 
mean that the selection and adequate treatment of 
such types involves the expulsion, as topics, of a 



VALUE OF TYPES 25 1 

host of minor events. But many of them will re- 
appear in their proper setting as secondary to the 
main topics. It is clear that such a full handling of 
central types is based upon a rigid ranking of events 
according to their true value. 

The concentration of effort upon such topics, with 
their related material, enables us to ground our work 
upon those natural laws of association upon which 
memory and reason rest. The links which bind 
together such a large complex of facts are the ideas 
of Hmilarity and of causal relation. The body of 
facts contained in any given study needs to be or- 
ganized around a few centres, which thus reduce a large 
and intricate collection of data to comparative sim- 
plicity, and put it under easy control. Just as a city 
in the midst of a productive and populous region, by 
means of its numerous radiating lines of traffic, centres 
in itself the collection and distribution of products, 
so an important type, by its representative character 
and causal relations, centralizes and organizes a 
large accumulation of facts, and leaves thought free 
to issue forth in every direction from this stronghold, 
working its interchanges along the great traffic lines 
of association. 

The selection of the important typical lesson 
unities in a study will be found later to pave the way 
for the solution of two large problems which the 
teacher is sure to meet, — correlation and scientific 
arrangement. 



252 METHOD OF RECITATION 

In the very process of careful selection and elabo- 
rate treatment of a type we meet unavoidably this 
correlation^ or close interrelation of studies. In treat- 
ing the Hudson River as a type we come upon the 
mountains, forests, water power, and manufacturing 
of its upper course ; the navigation, cities, railroads, 
and scenery of its lower course ; its commercial con- 
nections by canal with the coal fields of Pennsyl- 
vania, with the forests of the north by canal to Lake 
Champlain, with the Great Lakes by the Erie Canal 
along the Mohawk to Buffalo. The harbor and city 
of New York, and their easy connections with the 
Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi Valley, are 
on one side, with the Atlantic coast and the marts of 
Europe on the other. Historically, the Hudson is 
very attractive : Hudson and his early exploration 
and his contact with the Indians, the first Dutch 
settlers, Washington and his campaigns along the 
Hudson, the old forts and battle scenes, Arnold and 
Andr6, Burgoyne's invasion and its attendant battles 
and strategies. In literature, Irving has made cer- 
tain spots on its banks as famous as the old battle 
grounds. These stories our children use in their 
regular reading lessons. From a purely scientific 
standpoint, the great drowned river valley, its pal- 
isades, mountains, and incoming ocean tides are at 
once suggested. 

The moment we begin to treat the Hudson River 
as an important and typical object in this rich and 



VALUE OF TYPES 253 

fruitful way, we are certain to run across these rela- 
tions of the geography to history, literature, and 
f^ natural science. Not that we are forced in the geog- 
raphy lesson to give the historical or literary or sci- 
entific treatment. But the Hudson River as a whole 
has these historical and scientific and literary facts 
and associations as well as the geographical. Nor 
can we dig deep among the geographical facts with- 
out running across these root-connections with the 
other studies. It is just at this point that the prob- 
lem of correlation must be met and solved, not by 
mixing and jumbHng the studies, but by tracing in 
each study these deeper relations to others. 

So long as geography study consists in locating 
and learning the names of cities, rivers, and moun- 
tains (this surface survey of geographical facts), we 
shall not be troubled with the problem of correlation. 
But take some large geographical type and begin to 
turn up the deep, rich fund of detailed knowledge 
involved in it, and at once this strong network of 
deep and important relations between studies is en- 
countered. 

Not only is there an important collection of geo- 
graphical facts (physical, commercial, industrial, and 
political), all firmly linked together by strong causal 
relations, but naturally included within the same 
area and explained by this very environment are the 
scientific, historical, and literary facts which cannot 
be kept out of sight. They are all bound up together 



254 METHOD OF RECITATION 

in one great picture or panoramic view in the very 
setting in which nature and the growth of human 
society have put them. 

The object of correlation is not to invent or fix up 
relations between studies, but simply to see facts 
and objects in those natural and necessary relations 
in which they actually stand and without which they 
have no meaning. The concentration of study upon 
an important type is the choice opportunity for get- 
ting into a nest of these naturally correlated facts. 
The superficial survey of facts in a branch of knowl- 
edge and the strict isolation of studies from one 
another are the teacher's artificial method of exclud- 
ing life and meaning from studies. 

Such types are not at all difficult to find in geog- 
raphy, history, natural science, and literature. The 
itemized, connected life history of an oak through 
its years of germination, growth, fruit-bearing, and final 
decay, is a close study of the tree in its relations to 
minerals and soils, of the physical and chemical 
processes in the tissues, bark, and leaves, of atmos- 
pheric and climatic condition, of insect and bird 
life among its branches, and of the clouds and sun- 
light above its head. The oak tree as a botanical 
specimen is rooted and all its parts live in the close 
environment of the other sciences. Here are several 
sciences in such intimate relation that no absolute 
lines of distinction can be drawn. Practically, how- 
ever, there need be no mixing or confusion of sci- 



P VALU^ OF TYPES 255 

ences because the central topic is a purely botanical 
one and puts the other sciences under tribute only 
to the extent that they can help to understand the 
important phases of the tree's life. 
p But this typical object, standing in this environ- Types as 
ment of closely related facts, towers above them, and scientific 
teaches still higher truths, setting into prominence classes and 
those larger sciejitijic classifications and laws which 
interpret the phenomena of nature and of human life 
on a broad scale. Looked at from the standpoint 
of botany, the full study of the oak brings out a 
great type of vegetable growth. The type idea, when 
clearly revealed by comparisons with other trees and 
vegetable forms, not only stands as the representative 
of forest trees, easily observed by all children, but 
illustrates similar processes throughout all forms of 
vegetation. Even a child may thus wake up to the 
presence of great, universal laws, clo.sely observed in 
a few typical cases, but easily detected in many others. 
The elaborate study of types is, therefore, the best 
approach to scientific classes and principles. 

Isolate one of these type objects, tear it loose from 
its root-connections, and it is no longer a type. Its 
deep setting and intimate vital relation to environ- 
ment constitute a share of its typical character. As 
the oak tree, uprooted by the storm, lies dead, no 
longer a type of living forces, so a lesson topic loos- 
ened from its natural setting has no life, no vital 
force as educative material. 



256 METHOD OF RECITATION 

In summarizing the points of value in type studies 
we may note : — 

1. The type furnishes us a centre around which to 
collect the material for induction in the first four 
steps. 

2. The type is extremely concrete while strik- 
ingly characteristic in its exhibition of generic quali- 
ties. 

3. The sifting out of the best types in a study 
gives us a series of great lesson units^ or strategic 
points, whose mastery gives us the control of a whole 
study. 

4. The deepening of the type study uncovers those 
radical relations between studies which give a real 
meaning to the term correlation. 

5. The general classes and truths, which the types 
prefigure, constitute the scientific framework of the 
study and at the same time furnish the nuclei for 
lesson unities capable of treatment according to the 
five steps of instruction. 



II 



I 



CHAPTER XI 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 

In this chapter three lesson unities are worked 
out through the five formal steps, for the purpose 
of illustrating more definitely the inditctive-deduc- 
five '}noveme7it in the treatment of such important 
topics. 

To work out such a lesson unity through all 
the essential steps may require several recitation 
periods. The lesson on irrigation will take proba- 
bly four or five recitation periods of half an hour 
each. 

The Irrigation of Arid Lands 

First Step. — How can the dry lands of some 
of our far Western states be watered from the 
rivers } 

How are our farms and gardens in Illinois sup- 
plied with moisture .'' Do you know of any of our 
states where there is little or no rainfall on the 
plains .•* Point out on the map the dry region along 
the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. What do 
you know from your geographies of the climate of 
this strip of country .-* What business may be car- 
s 257 



258 METHOD OF RECITATION 

ried on here ? Grazing and mining. Have you 
heard of people who crossed the " plains " ? Where 
are the plains ? Recall Fremont's trip to the Rocky 
Mountains. Can crops of grain or vegetables be 
raised on the plains .-* What are the difficulties ? 
What rivers flow across this region and in which 
direction ? Would it be possible to get the water 
from these rivers upon the dry uplands, so as to use 
them for purposes of agriculture ? Tell what you 
may have heard of irrigating ditches. 

Second Step. — The strip of country just east of 
the mountains in Colorado is very dry. There is 
almost constant sunshine, and very little rain, so 
that, though the soil is good, it bears only a thin, 
scattering buffalo grass, and most of the year the 
country looks almost as barren as a desert. To 
explain fully the process of irrigating by ditches, 
" The Big Ditch," which is drawn from the South 
Fork of the Platte near Denver, is described as 
follows : — 

In order to show the position of this ditch and 
its relation to the river, the mountains, and the 
slopes, a map of the region about Denver is neces- 
sary, showing the South Fork of the Platte River, 
the mountains and foot-hills, and the slope on which 
the ditch is laid out. 

The South Fork of the Platte River, after drain- 
ing South Park, breaks through the foot-hills and 
descends to the northeast through the great plain 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 



259 



20 milea 




A. A. A. — Main chain of the 

Rocky Mountains. 

B. B.B. — Foot-hills. 

C. C. C — South Fork of the 

Platte. 

D. — Denver. 

E. — The dam. 



F.F.F.— The ditch. 
G. G. G. — Cherry creek. 
H. H. H. — Watershed. 
I. I. — Clear creek. 
K. — Georgetown. 
P. — Pike's Peak. 
S. S. — South Park. 



26o METHOD OF RECITATION 

lying east of the mountains. Southeast of the Platte 
a high watershed extends out from the mountains, 
separating the valley of the Platte from the valley 
of the Arkansas, still farther south. Pike's Peak, 
a prominent spur of the mountains, lies a little south 
of this watershed. From the foot-hills the country 
slopes eastward toward the Platte as indicated by 
the small streams descending from the mountains. 
On the other side of the Platte the land slopes 
gradually from the height of land to the northwest, 
as indicated by Cherry creek and other streams, 
which, however, are dry most of the year. 

This gently sloping land has a good soil, but on 
account of the dry weather has only a scant growth 
of buffalo grass, useful for cattle-grazing. Denver 
lies at the junction of the Platte River and Cherry 
creek, and other cities like Georgetown and Black 
Hawk are located in the valleys of the mountains. 
The Platte River emerges from the mountains or foot- 
hills about twenty-one miles southwest of Denver. 

Between the Platte River and the watershed on the 
southeast is a large area of gently sloping country, 
part of which it was proposed to bring under irriga- 
tion by means of a large ditch taken from the Platte 
River. Can you devise a plan by which the water from 
the river can be brought upon this plain } Where 
should the ditch begin, which way should it extend, 
and in what direction should the water flow through 
it .? In order to get the water at a high level, so as to 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 26l 

carry the water as high along the slope as possible, 
the engineers, following the stream into the moun- 
tains, constructed a dam in the river three miles above 
the point where it emerges from the foot-hills. The 
river itself descends rapidly as it rushes down through 
the canon and out into the open plain. But the big 
ditch which is taken from the river at the dam is 
carried along the canon in an artificially constructed 
channel with a slow current, so that, as it emerges 
from the mouth of the canon, the channel of the 
ditch is some twenty feet or more higher up than the 
current of the river. What special advantage (for 
irrigation) is it to have the level of the ditch twenty 
feet above the current in the river } 

Near where the river emerges from the mountains 
a small stream comes into the Platte from the south, 
and the Big Ditch is turned back along this valley, 
and, after crossing it, is kept as far back from the 
Platte River and as high up along the slope as pos- 
sible. Why do they wish to keep the ditch as far 
away from the Platte as possible .? As it extends to 
the northeast the distance from the Platte River grad- 
ually increases till at Denver it is eight or ten miles 
from the city, where it crosses Cherry creek. 

After reaching the plain just east of the moun- 
tains, the Big Ditch was made by digging a channel 
in the earth, about forty feet wide, and when the 
water was let in, about six or seven feet deep in the 
middle. In digging this great trench on which side 



262 METHOD OF RECITATION 

of the channel would the dhl be thrown, and why ? 
The digging required the labor of hundreds of men 
with teams and scrapers and other machines for re- 
moving dirt. The work lasted many months and 
cost many thousands of dollars. In some places 
the ditch resembles great railroad cuts through a 
hilly country. v 

When it was brought to one of the deep gullies 
or dry runs, which are frequent on the plains, it was 
necessary in some way to get it across. The largest 
and widest of these is the valley of Cherry creek, a 
half mile or more in width in many places. What 
can you suggest as a good plan for getting a large 
ditch across one of these valleys .<* Sometimes a 
** flume" or aqueduct was built consisting of a great 
wooden trough, supported by heavy piles or posts, 
like a railroad bridge. This trough must be wide 
and deep enough to carry the full stream of water 
in the ditch. The seams and cracks between the 
boards were filled and calked up so as to permit as 
little leakage as possible. 

The water with which the ditch is supplied comes 
from the river. But how does the river get its sup- 
ply in such a dry country } It has been observed 
that there is a much greater rainfall and snowfall 
among the mountains and along the higher ridges 
than on the level plains to the east. The cold moun- 
tain sides condense the moisture into rain and snow. 
The mountain peaks and ranges have frequent rain 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 263 

and snowstorms when no moisture falls upon the 
plains. The forest and vegetation upon the moun- 
tain slopes hold back the moisture also. In the 
spring, when the warm sun melts the snows, and in 
April and May when the spring rains come, the rivers 
are flooded. An immense amount of water, at this 
season, escapes down the river and is lost unless it 
can be stored up in reservoirs for use two or three 
months later, when it will be greatly needed. Where 
could such reservoirs be built .^ These reservoirs 
were constructed at various points along the Big 
Ditch by building dams across the valleys or along 
the edge of tracts of low-lying land. But in spite 
of these reservoirs the amount of water is sometimes 
insufficient to supply all the land during the spring 
and summer season of irrigation. 

Many smaller ditches were built by the farmers 
or by small irrigation companies before the Big Ditch 
was constructed in 1881. Although lower down on 
the river, they have the prior claim, or water right, 
and it is only after they have been supplied that the 
Big Ditch (later built) can take the water from the 
river. Who settles such disputes ? The legislature 
of the state, meeting at Denver, makes the laws 
regulating the division and use of the water supply 
among the different ditch companies. 

How can the water be drawn off from the ditch 
and distributed to the farmers ? When the Big Ditch 
has been liberally supplied with water, it is drawn 



264 METHOD OF RECITATION 

off through wooden boxings or through gates to irri- 
gate the separate fields. The boxing through which 
the water escapes from the main ditch passes under 
the embankment on the lower side. At the upper 
end it is below the level of water in the ditch. At 
the lower end is an upright slide or board which, be- 
ing lifted, lets out the water, or by dropping it and 
throwing loose dirt about it in the boxing, the flow of 
water is stopped. Regular officers, or water inspect- 
ors, are employed to pass along the ditches and to 
regulate the amount of water sent out to the differ- 
ent farms, also to keep careful watch over the ditch 
banks, reservoirs, flumes, etc. Sometimes, in case of 
rains and freshets, the ditch threatens to fill up and 
break over its banks, wasting the water and injuring 
ditch and crops. In such cases how can the excess of 
water be turned off? Gates are opened at the flumes 
which allow the water to run off down the valleys. 
Usually a larger boxing lets out enough water to form 
quite a good-sized ditch, from two to six feet across. 
This may skirt the edges of a number of farms and 
from it the water is turned off in small channels to 
the separate farms and fields. At what point should 
a ditch enter a farm.? The fields are irrigated in 
different ways. A wheat-field or meadow is some- 
times flooded ; in a corn-field the water is often run 
down in small furrows between each two rows. 
When sufficient moisture is secured for a thorough 
wetting, the mouth of the ditch is closed up with a 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 265 

few shovels of dirt, and for a week or two the water 
is not turned on again. Most of the land slopes so 
regularly and evenly toward the river that it is pos- 
sible to irrigate it fully. 

How do the farmers measure and pay for water .^ 
The ditch company usually sells the water to the 
farmers by the inch, the amount of water passing 
through a hole an inch square being enough to irri- 
gate an acre. The cost of an inch of water is some- 
times from ;^ 1 . 50 to $2. 50. The ditch company, having 
spent large sums of money in digging the ditch and 
in buying up the land, is justified in charging a 
rental for the use of the water. 

The effect of bringing a district of apparently 
desert country under irrigation is very striking. 
Fields of grain, meadows of alfalfa and other grasses, 
corn-fields, and vegetable gardens cover the country. 
Groves of shade trees and fruit orchards soon grow 
up, roads are laid out, fences, barns, and houses built, 
and the whole country takes on much of the appear- 
ance of a flourishing Illinois prairie in springtime. 
Wells are dug and are well supplied with water, 
so thoroughly does the water saturate the whole soil. 
In the fall and winter the ditches are left dry. 
Land below the ditch (between the river and the 
ditch) becomes worth $^o or ;^50 to the acre, while 
just as good land above the level of the ditch, 
only a few rods away, is worth but $^ or ;^6 an 
acre for grazing purposes. It is claimed by the 



266 METHOD OF RECITATION 

farmers that irrigation is a more reliable and satis- 
factory method of agriculture than farming in Iowa 
or Illinois, where dependence must be placed upon 
the natural rainfall. What are the advantages of 
farming by irrigation ? One farmer told me that in 
thirty-three years he had never had a failure of a crop 
upon a single field. The abundant sunshine can be 
counted upon to ripen grains and fruits. 

The northwest slope of the Platte River (between 
the river and the foot-hills) is supplied with water in 
a somewhat different way. Quite a number of small 
streams come down out of the mountains and foot- 
hills and wind eastward across the slope to join the 
Platte. Between the mountains and the river at 
Denver, this rich level or rolling plain is about ten 
miles wide and is a garden of beauty and abundance. 
The small mountain streams moving eastward toward 
the Platte are dammed up at favorable points so as 
to form ponds or lakes. From one of these lakes 
the slopes lower down the valley of the little stream 
may be supplied with water by small ditches running 
out from the lake on either side. A stream may be 
dammed up in several places and thus constitute 
a series of irrigating lakes. From the foot-hills a 
thousand feet above the plain one can count more 
than a score of these small lakes which preserve the 
abundance of the spring waters for the use of the 
farmers in the summer time. 

On each side of the Platte River, therefore, there is 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 267 

a strip of well-irrigated land for many miles. What 
sort of market would you expect for the products 
of irrigation ? The city of Denver, with one hundred 
and thirty thousand people, furnishes a good mar- 
ket for much of this produce. Locate the chief min- 
ing towns within one hundred fifty miles of Den- 
ver. An examination of the map of Colorado will 
show along the foot-hills a series of mining towns 
such as Black Hawk, Boulder, Georgetown, Golden 
City, and Canon City, while a few miles back on the 
plains are towns and cities like Greeley, Denver, Colo- 
rado Springs, and Pueblo, which make a large de- 
mand for vegetables, grain, grasses, and fruits. Un- 
less they are raised by irrigation in Colorado, these 
necessary supplies will have to be shipped several 
hundred miles, from Kansas or Nebraska, or from 
Utah. A ready market at good prices is pretty cer- 
tain to be found near at hand for all the products 
raised by irrigation. 

In a brief review of the Big Ditch point out clearly 
its relation to the climate of Colorado, to the surface 
features and soil, to the rainfall, to cities and mining, 
to government, and to commerce and population. 

The first important river to the south of the Platte 
is the Arkansas, which issues through the main ridge 
of the Rockies by way of the Grand Canon not far 
from Canon City. As it comes out upon the eastern 
plains, its waters are drawn off in ditches to water 
the lower lands near the river. Even as far as 



268 METHOD OF RECITATION 

western Kansas it is used for irrigation by means 
of ditches. In southern Colorado and west of the 
main chain of the Rockies, the Rio Grande, as it 
flows southward through San Louis Park, is drawn 
off in ditches to enrich this fruitful valley, and south- 
ward into New Mexico the waters of this river are 
used for irrigation. In northern Colorado and in 
southern Wyoming the North Fork of the Platte 
and its branches are used for irrigation, and large 
reservoirs or artificial lakes, many miles in length, 
have been constructed for the purpose of holding 
the spring floods in reserve. 

Third Step. — Compare now these four rivers — 
the South Fork of the Platte, the North Fork of the 
Platte, the Arkansas, and the Rio Grande — as related 
to the mountains and plains, as situated in reference 
to the mining cities, and as illustrating facts of irri- 
gation as now carried on. What is the relative im- 
portance of the small streams as compared with the 
large ones for purposes of irrigation } 

Fourth Step. — In summing up the common features 
of these river valleys we may observe that they are 
all in an arid region, that they derive their water 
supply from the mountains ; as they emerge into the 
plains at the foot of the mountains their waters are 
carried out to enrich the plains by means of artificial 
channels. The smaller tributary streams are used in 
a similar way. The presence of important mining 
cities near these river valleys and in them makes a 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 269 

ready market for all the products raised by irriga- 
tion. The present wealth and population of these 
districts depend largely upon the irrigating ditches. 

Fifth Step. — The school children, having seen 
clearly the conditions under which irrigation is 
possible, and the means by which it is carried on, 
will be able to extend its application over a number 
of states and territories where similar conditions 
of climate, soil, and surface features are repeated. 
By a study of the maps and the descriptive parts of 
their geographies they should be able to locate the 
arid regions and determine what rivers are useful 
for irrigation. Are the rivers of California irriga- 
tion streams ? Of Utah } Of Washington and Mon- 
tana .'' Finally locate the arid regions of the United 
States and compare them in size with the portions 
which have sufficient rainfall for purposes of agri- 
culture. Could the rivers of your native state be 
used for purposes of irrigation if rain were lacking ? 
For example, the Illinois, the Hudson, the Minne- 
sota, the Tennessee } What have you heard of irri- 
gating farms in Dakota and other states by means of 
artesian wells } Various attempts of this sort have 
been made. What are the difficulties likely to be } 

In the later study of Africa, Asia, and South 
America we may interpret plans of irrigation in 
other lands and compare them with ours. 



270 METHOD OF RECITATION 



The Battle of King's Mountain and the Te^nper of 
the Common People during the Revolutionary War 

First Step. — We will see how the backwoodsmen 
of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia prepared 
a surprise for CornwalHs and the British army. 
After the battle of Camden, what was the condition 
of things in the Carolinas ? Where was Gates's army ? 
What was Cornwallis's plan ? Will the people of the 
South attempt any further resistance to Cornwallis ? 

A survey of the situation at this time will lead 
the children to the conclusion that Cornwallis and 
the British were in high hopes after the battle of 
Camden, and that the Americans were scattered and 
discouraged. Let the class study the maps and books, 
and get a clear view of this discouraging situation. 
Cornwallis seemed to be in full control of South 
Carolina, and by cooperating with troops sent to 
Virginia by Sir Henry Clinton was planning to bring 
North Carolina and the whole South into complete 
subjection to the royal cause. We will see how 
the common people acted under these depressing 
conditions. 

Second Step. — In the mountainous districts of 
western Carolina, in Tennessee and Virginia, were 
scattered settlements of backwoodsmen who had 
never submitted to the king. Cornwallis now sent 
Major Patrick Ferguson, with twelve hundred men. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 27 1 

on a foraging march into the rough country of west- 
ern North Carolina, with instructions to scour the 
mountain region between the Catawba and the Yad- 
kin, harass the patriots, encourage the Tories, and 
gather in royahst recruits. At Charlotte, in North 
Carolina, he was to rejoin Cornwallis's army. What 
sort of country had Ferguson to travel through ? 
Would the backwoodsmen be likely to disturb him } 
What sort of training in fighting had they had ? 

As Ferguson marched into this wild region he 
found the people very unfriendly. Instead of sell- 
ing their provisions to British soldiers, they dis- 
tressed them by shooting down stragglers and 
messengers, and cutting off supplies from the Brit- 
ish army. Neither Ferguson nor Cornwallis was 
expecting serious opposition from large bodies of 
American troops. Yet it was very difficult for the 
British to march through such a rugged and wild 
country. Besides, the Americans could sometimes 
bring together considerable companies of swift 
horsemen, who did great damage to detachments 
of the British army. 

The story of the battle of King's Mountain is 
thus told in Irving and Fiske's " Washington and his 
Country," pp. 423-427. Let the teacher tell the 
story, throwing in questions when needed. 

"This hostility of the patriots was a sore annoy- 
ance to Cornwallis, depriving him of all intelligence 
concerning the movements of Ferguson, whose ar- 



272 METHOD OF RECITATION 

rival he was anxiously awaiting. That doughty- 
partisan officer was on his way to join Cornwallis 
when a chance for a signal exploit presented itself. 
An American force under Colonel Elijah Clark, of 
Georgia, was retreating to the mountain districts of 
North Carolina, after an unsuccessful attack upon 
the British post at Augusta. Ferguson resolved to 
cut off their retreat. Turning toward the moun- 
tains, he made his way through a rugged wilderness 
and took post at Gilbert-town, a small frontier vil- 
lage of log houses. He was encouraged to this step 
by the persuasion that there was no force in that 
part of the country able to look him in the face. He 
had no idea that the behavior of his followers had 
arrayed the very wilderness against him. (What sort 
of treatment had the patriots in the South received 
at the hands of the British ?) The scattered inhab- 
itants of the mountains assembled without noise or 
warning; a hardy race, half huntsmen, half herds- 
men, inhabiting deep, narrow valleys and fertile 
slopes, adapted to grazing, watered by the coldest of 
springs and brightest of streams, and embosomed in 
mighty forest trees. Being subject to inroads and 
surprisals from the Indians, a tacit league existed 
among them for mutual defence, and it only needed, 
as in the present instance, an alarm to be circulated 
through their settlements by swift messengers to 
bring them at once to the point of danger. (Against 
what Indians had the early settlers of this region 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 2/3 

fought ?) Now from the upland regions of Kentucky, 
Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas these bold 
backwoodsmen assembled to the number of three 
thousand, led by their militia colonels, Campbell, 
Shelby, Williams, Cleveland, McDowell, and Sevier. 

"Threatened by a force so superior in numbers 
and fierce in hostility, Ferguson remembered the 
instructions of Cornwallis, and breaking up his 
quarters he pushed for the British army, sending 
messengers ahead to apprise his lordship of the 
danger. Unfortunately for him, his missives were 
intercepted. (What might CornwaUis have done to 
help Ferguson ?) 

" Gilbert-town had not long been vacated by Fer- 
guson and his troops when the motley host of moun- 
taineers thronged in. The greater part were on 
horseback. Some were in homespun garb, but the 
most part in hunting shirts, occasionally decorated 
with colored fringe and tassels. Each man had his 
long rifle and hunting-knife, his wallet, or knapsack, 
and blanket, and either a buck's tail or sprig of 
evergreen in his hat. Here and there an officer 
appeared in the continental uniform of blue and 
buff, but most preferred the half-Indian hunting 
dress. There was neither tent nor equipage, neither 
baggage nor wagon, to encumber the movements of 
that extemporaneous host. Prompt warriors of the 
wilderness, with them it was 'Seize the weapon — 
spring into the saddle — and away ! ' In going into 



2/4 METHOD OF RECITATION 

action, it was their practice to dismount and tie their 
horses, so as to have them at hand for use after 
battle, either to pursue a flying enemy or make their 
own escape by dint of hoof. 

" There was a clamor of tongues for a time at Gil- 
bert-town ; groups on horseback and foot in every 
part, holding hasty council. Being told that Fer- 
guson had retreated by the Cherokee road toward 
North Carolina, about nine hundred of the hardiest 
and best mounted set out in urgent pursuit, leaving 
those who were on foot, or weakly mounted, to fol- 
low as fast as possible. Colonel William Campbell, 
of Virginia, having come from the greatest distance, 
was allowed to have command of the whole party; 
but there was not much order or subordination. 
Each colonel led his own men in his own way. A 
rapid and irregular march was kept up all night in 
murky darkness and through a heavy rain. About 
daybreak they crossed Broad River, where an attack 
was apprehended. Not finding the enemy, they 
halted, lit their fires, made their morning's meal, 
and took a brief repose. By nine o'clock they were 
again on the march. The rainy night had been 
succeeded by a bright October morning, and all 
were in high spirits. Ferguson, they learned, had 
taken the road toward King's Mountain, about 
twelve miles distant. When within three miles of 
it, their scouts brought in word that he had taken 
post on its summit. The officers now held a short 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 275 

consultation on horseback, and then proceeded. 
The position taken by Ferguson was a strong one. 
King's Mountain rises out of a broken country, and 
is detached, on the north, from inferior heights by a 
deep valley, so as to resemble an insulated promon- 
tory about half a mile in length, with sloping sides 
excepting on the north. The Mountain was covered 
for the most part with lofty forest trees, free from 
underwood, interspersed with boulders and masses 
of gray rock. The forest was sufficiently open to 
give free passage to horsemen. As the Americans 
drew nearer, they could occasionally, through open- 
ings of the woodland, descry the glittering of arms 
along a level ridge, forming the crest of King's 
Mountain. This Ferguson had made his strong- 
hold, boasting that *if all the rebels out of hell 
should attack him, they could not drive him from 
it.' (Why was this a strong position for Ferguson's 
army ? How could the Americans best manage the 
attack .?) 

" Dismounting at a small stream which runs 
through a ravine, the Americans picketed their 
horses, or tied them to the branches of the trees, and 
gave them in charge of a small guard. They then 
formed themselves into three divisions of nearly 
equal size, and prepared to storm the heights on three 
sides. Campbell, seconded by Shelby, was to lead 
the centre division ; Sevier with McDowell, the right ; 
and Cleveland and Williams, the left. 



276 METHOD OF RECITATION 

" The divisions were to scale the mountain as nearly 
as possible at the same time. The fighting directions 
were in frontier style. When once in action, every 
one must act for himself. The men were not to wait 
for the word of command, but to take good aim and 
fire as fast as possible. When they could no longer 
hold their ground, they were to get behind trees, or 
retreat a little, and return to the fight, but never to 
go quite off. 

" Campbell allowed time for the flanking divisions 
to move to the right and left along the base of the 
mountain, and take their proper distances; he then 
pushed up in front with the centre division. About 
four o'clock Campbell arrived within rifle distance of 
the crest of the mountain, whence a sheeted fire of mus- 
ketry was opened upon him. He instantly deployed 
his men, posted them behind trees, and returned the 
fire with deadly effect. Ferguson, exasperated at 
being thus hunted into this mountain fastness, had 
been chafing in his rocky lair and meditating a furi- 
ous sally. He now rushed out with his regulars, 
made an impetuous charge with the bayonet, and 
dislodging his assailants from their coverts, began to 
drive them down the mountain. He had not pro- 
ceeded far, when a flanking fire was opened by one 
of the other divisions; facing about and attacking 
this he was again successful, when a third fire was 
opened from another quarter. Thus, as fast as one 
division gave way before the bayonet, another came 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 27/ 

to its relief; while those who had given way rallied 
and returned to the charge. (Do you think Ferguson 
could have planned his part of the battle better ?) 
The nature of the ground was more favorable to the 
rifle than the bayonet, and this was a kind of warfare 
in which the frontier men were at home. The ele- 
vated position of the enemy also was in favor of the 
Americans, as it secured them from the danger of 
their own cross-fire. Ferguson found that he was 
completely in the hunters' toils, beset on every side ; 
but he stood bravely at bay, until the ground around 
him was strewed with the killed and wounded, picked 
off by the fatal rifle. His men were at length broken, 
and retreated in confusion along the ridge. He gal- 
loped from place to place endeavoring to rally them, 
when a rifle ball brought him to the ground, and his 
white horse was seen careering down the mountain 
without a rider. (Could Ferguson with his men have 
broken through the ranks of the Americans on one 
side and have escaped ?) 

" This closed the bloody fight ; Ferguson's second 
in command, seeing all further resistance hopeless, 
hoisted a white flag, beat a parley, and surrendered 
at discretion. One hundred and fifty of the enemy 
had fallen, and as many been wounded ; while of the 
Americans, but twenty were killed, though a con- 
siderable number were wounded. (Why, do you 
think, had the British suffered more in killed and 
wounded than the Americans ?) Among those slain 



278 METHOD OF RECITATION 

was Colonel James Williams, who had commanded 
the troops of Ninety-six, and proved himself one of 
the most daring of the partisan leaders. 

" Eight hundred and ten men were taken pris- 
oners, one hundred of whom were British regulars, 
the rest loyalists. The rancor awakened by civil war 
was shown in the treatment of some of the prisoners. 
A court-martial was held the day after the battle, and 
a number of Tory prisoners, who had been bitter in 
their hostility to the American cause, and flagitious in 
their persecution of their countrymen, were hanged. 
This was to revenge the death of American prisoners 
hanged at Camden and elsewhere. (Would you 
expect the backwoodsmen to follow up this victory 
by marching against CornwalUs ?) 

" The army of mountaineers and frontiersmen, thus 
fortuitously congregated, did not attempt to follow 
up their signal blow. They had no general scheme, 
no plan of campaign ; it was the spontaneous rising 
of the sons of the soil, to revenge it on its invaders, 
and, having effected their purpose, they returned in 
triumph to their homes. They were little aware of 
the importance of their achievement. 

"The battle of King's Mountain, inconsiderable 
as it was in the numbers engaged, turned the tide of 
southern warfare. The destruction of Ferguson and 
his corps gave a complete check to the expedition 
of CornwalUs. He began to fear for the safety of 
South Carolina, liable to such sudden irruptions from 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 279 

the mountains ; lest while he was facing to the north 
these hordes of stark-riding warriors might throw 
themselves behind him, and produce a popular com- 
bustion in the province he had left. He resolved, 
therefore, to return with all speed to that province 
and provide for its security." 

Third Step. — (The class is supposed to have had 
earlier in their history study a complete account of 
Burgoyne's invasion, including the battle of Ben- 
nington. Recall Burgoyne's invasion and the events 
which led up to the battle of Bennington.) 

The battle of King's Mountain at the South sug- 
gests the earlier battle of Bennington at the North. 
Under what circumstances did Burgoyne send Baum 
on the raid against Bennington } How did Baum 
prepare to meet the attack of the Americans } Bur- 
goyne, after scattering St. Clair's army, followed up 
his victory with sending Baum on a foraging march 
toward Bennington. Compare this with Cornwallis 
after Camden. 

Colonel John Stark and his Green Mountain boys 
assembled voluntarily at Bennington to repel invaders. 
Compare these with the backwoodsmen of Carolina 
and Tennessee who assembled under the six colonels 
at King's Mountain. The Tories and Indians at the 
North had exasperated the country people by cruel- 
ties. How had the Tories and British treated the 
patriots at the South } Baum took a strong position 
on a hill and awaited the attack of the Americans. 



280 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Ferguson at King's Mountain did likewise. Stark 
divided his army into three divisions and attacked on 
three sides at once. In both battles the militia at- 
tacked the British in a strong position and either 
killed or captured the whole body. The British 
leader was also killed or mortally wounded in each 
battle. 

What was the result of each of these battles in its 
effects upon the movements of the principal armies ? 
There were also certain points of difference worth 
noticing. At Bennington two battles were fought on 
the same day. At Bennington there were two leaders 
of the Americans ; at King's Mountain, six, but they 
were not regularly appointed officers in either case. 

Fotirth Step. — As a result of this comparison we 
find a remarkable similarity even in the lesser details 
of these two battles, so far distant in place and time. 
Although they were small battles and insignificant in 
the number of troops engaged, yet they were very 
important in their influence upon two important cam- 
paigns. And what is also of much importance, they 
throw much light upon the spirit which the common 
people exhibited during the Revolutionary War. 

At a time of great discouragement the people 
themselves, under their own neighborhood leaders, 
collect in large numbers, with such arms and equip- 
ments as they bring from their own homes, and attack 
and capture veteran troops in strong positions. In 
this respect exactly the same spirit and energy of 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 2S1 

character are shown by the backwoodsmen of Ten- 
nessee, Carolina, and Virginia as by the Green 
Mountain recruits and Yankee militia. 

The common people, therefore, out of their own 
love of liberty, and on account of their great courage 
and energy, contributed much to the success of the 
Revolutionary War. 

Fifth Step} — Other battles of the Revolution may 
be called up and measured upon this standard of 
energy and patriotism as shown by the rank and file 
of troops. Take, for example. Bunker Hill, Stony 
Point, The Cowpens, Saratoga, and others. It is 
sometimes said that a few men, especially Washing- 
ton, bore the burden of the war. How far were the 
spirit and energy of the common people responsible 
for the final success } Later in our history, both in 
time of war and in the enterprises of peace, the 
striking characteristics of the common people should 
be studied and their influence upon important events 
and movements observed and compared with earlier 
manifestations of the popular will. 

This idea can be carried over also into the arena 
of political and social reform. 

1 The early colonial history abounds in illustrations of this popular 
energy as shown in Indian wars and in resistance to the tyranny of 
royal governors. 



282 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Parable of the Tares 

Matthew xiii. 24-31 

Several generalizations are suggested and a few 
are plainly taught by this parable. The tares were 
sown in the night, when people were asleep ; so 
wicked thoughts are sown when people are spirit- 
ually asleep. The tares have an injurious influence 
upon the good grain ; so bad thoughts and actions 
exert an injurious influence upon good thoughts and 
actions. When harvest time comes, the different 
growths shall be judged by the fruits that they bear, 
and hence, ** By their fruits ye shall know them." 
The householder seems patient in allowing the weeds 
to stand ; so God seems patient with the wicked 
people. The notes ordinarily furnished in connec- 
tion with this parable state that the tares are a poi- 
sonous weed ; so bad thoughts and actions act like 
poison in our lives. 

These are all truths, however, that, while sug- 
gested by the parable, do not express the essence of 
its thought. They are really subordinate thoughts, 
and should better be neglected than receive much 
attention. The plainest truth involved is that a sure 
reward awaits the good and a sure punishment the 
evil. And that is the thought that Christ himself 
presents when he is called upon by the apostles to 
interpret the parable. However, many a teacher 
will feel convinced that there is another truth fully 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 283 

involved in the story, by means of which more in- 
fluence can be exerted upon the child than by this 
one just named. That is presented through the fact 
that the householder commands his servants to let 
the tares stand with the wheat, because the ser- 
vants cannot remove the one without injuring the 
other. This, interpreted, means that in this world, 
though we would often like to banish evil from 
among us, we do not know enough to separate it 
from the good, and if we attempted to do so we 
should make an abundance of mistakes. Hence, we 
should let both grow together until the harvest, or 
until the end of the world ; and we should not at- 
tempt to judge and condemn people, thinking that 
we see clearly what is good in them and what is 
bad. The generalization, tersely stated, would be, 
" Judge not, that ye be not judged." This is the one 
chosen to be presented here according to the five 
Formal Steps. The children are thought of as be- 
ing at least ten years of age, and perhaps somewhat 
older. The majority of the questions following, al- 
though not all, could be given to ten-year-old chil- 
dren. 

Aim. — Let us see what Christ meant by his story 
about removing weeds from the wheat. 

I. Have you found weeds in a garden of your own ? 
How were they gotten rid of .? Why is that so nec- 
essary } Is there any danger to the other plants in 
so doing } Have you seen weeds growing in grain in 



284 METHOD OF RECITATION 

the country ? Where ? In what grains ? Is it more 
or less dangerous to remove weeds from wheat than 
from your flowers or vegetables in the garden ? Why ? 
What, then, does the farmer do with them ? 

2 a. Now let us listen to the story that Christ told 
about removing weeds from the wheat. That was 
in Palestine, and the particular weeds he mentioned 
are called tares. They are said to look very much 
like wheat. (Read Matthew xiii. 24-31.) (If time 
allows, at least a portion of this parable could be 
developed instead of read.) The children, after 
hearing or reading the parable, relate the same prob- 
ably two or three times, in order to see clearly the 
concrete situation. Proceeding, we say, Why, then, 
were the servants not allowed to pull up the tares .-* 
The chief answer is that in so doing they would root 
up the wheat, because the tares stand so close to 
the wheat that one could not be pulled up without 
injury to the other. 

2 b. Christ's disciples hardly knew what he meant 
by this story, and they asked him about it. Do you 
think you can possibly tell what is meant } Let us 
see. He says that a man having a field of grain may 
be compared with the kingdom of Heaven. If so, 
whom might the sower represent.*^ Answer — Christ. 
And what would the field be .^ Answer — the world. 
Who would be meant by the good seed } Who by 
the tares } When will the harvest be ? Who are the 
reapers ? 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 285 

3. Are there many tares or wicked people in the 
world ? Give examples, as thieves, murderers, etc. 
Those servants thought it would be wise to separate 
the tares from the wheat and gather them up ; have 
you ever had the same feeling about the bad people 
in the world ? Have you wanted to do away with 
the evil and leave only the good ? Well, now, sup- 
pose you were allowed to separate the good from 
the bad; if this permission were given you, how 
would you go at it ? (i) On which side, the good or 
the bad, would you place Jacob ? You remember he 
deceived his aged father. (2) What would you do 
with Moses } Remember that he killed a man. How 
did God regard him ? (3) On which side would you 
place Mary Magdalene ? What did Christ think of 
her ? (4) Where would you place the Prodigal Son } 
(5) Would you regard Judas as belonging among the 
wheat or the tares ^ You remember he was one of 
the disciples, and was trusted by them, although he 
betrayed Christ later. (6) What would you do with 
the brother of the Prodigal Son } He stayed at home 
and worked. (7) What would you do with your 
friends and acquaintances ? Why are you confused 
in these cases .^ Once more. Why would not the 
householder allow his servants to pull up the tares .? 
Answer, They were too near the wheat stalks and 
too much like them to be separated from them. Does 
that help you any here? How? Answer, (i) The 
evil is so near the good that they are both found in 



286 METHOD OF RECITATION 

one person ; (2) The good and bad often appear so 
much alike that often we are not able to tell them 
apart. What conclusion, then, do you reach about 
our trying to separate the good from the bad ? But 
what if we went ahead and decided to attempt it 
nevertheless ? Wrong ! ! Who, then, will attend 
finally to this separation ? Why are angels chosen 
for it rather than men ? 

4. ( I ) Which verse in the parable most clearly calls 
for delay in separating the bad from the good? 
Look them through to see. Verse 30. ** Let both 
grow together until the harvest." Are you con- 
vinced that this applies as much to good and bad 
people as to wheat and tares ? 

(2) Do you call to mind another verse that 
brings to mind a similar thought ? You have heard 
it often. It begins with the word judge. Mat- 
thew vii. I. Judge not. Let us learn these two 
verses, then, and hereafter when the parable of 
the tares is called for, you may state its chief 
thought for us by these two verses. 

5. (i) At the close of this talk, Christ said, 
"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Why do 
you think he said that.** What did he want them 
to hear.'* 

(2) Is it true that people have failed in times past 
to listen to this teaching } What examples from history 
show this } St. Bartholomew's massacre, witchcraft, 
the Jews' treatment of Christ, etc. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 28/ 

(3) Have you ever been misjudged yourself ? How 
did you feel about it ? 

(4) Have you ever misjudged others ? How did 
you feel about it then, when you discovered that you 
had been wrong ? 

(5) Have you ever really attempted to stop judg- 
ing others so freely ? (" Who hath ears to hear, let 
him hear.") 

(6) What comforting thought do you find in this 
lesson ? Answer, That we should not be too much 
discouraged at seeing wickedness allowed to continue. 
We are taught not to be too impatient over the mat- 
ter. 



CHAPTER XII 

LAWS UNDERLYING PROCESSES IN TEACHING 

If the leading thoughts thus far presented are true, 
there are certain steps in instruction that are universal. 
No matter what the study be, whether Latin, mathe- 
matics, science, or some other, there is a certain order 
that the mind must follow in acquiring knowledge. 
Through the old related experiences (first step, 
preparation) new individual, notions are reached (sec- 
ond step, presentation) ; these are compared and their 
essential characteristics abstracted (third step, com- 
parison), and the resulting general truth is worded 
(fourth step, generalization) ; this generalization 
finally receives application (fifth step, application). 
Since these steps are passed through in this order 
without reference to the nature of the subject-matter 
presented, they are rightly called the Formal Steps 
of Instruction. They indicate the order of the move- 
ments of the mind, or of the forms through which 
thought must pass in reaching full maturity. 

Now, law is reached the moment that a certain 
order is shown to be uniform ; for a law is nothing 
more than a statement of a uniform sequence, and a 

2S8 



LAWS OF TEACHING 289 

law of teaching, the statement of a uniform sequence 
in the process of learning. Hence, it is clear that these 
natural or Formal Steps of Instruction simply embody 
the laws of teaching. 

I. The most prominent one, often known as the 
law of induction and discussed particularly in Chap- 
ter V, may be stated thus : The order of steps in the 
acquisition of knowledge is : {a) individual notions ; 
ip) general notions. Eminent authorities on teaching 
now generally agree upon this law, and it is stated 
by Huxley in these words : ^ — 

"The subject-matter of biological science is differ- 
ent from that of other sciences, but the methods of 
all are identical. 

" And these methods are : — 

** I. Observation of facts — including under this head 
that artificial observation which is called experiment. 

" 2. That process of tying up similar facts into 
bundles ticketed and ready for use, which is called 
comparison and classification, the results of the pro- 
cess, the ticketed bundles, being named general propo- 
sitions. 

" 3. Deduction, which takes us from the general 
proposition to facts gained — teaches us, if I may so 
say, to anticipate from the ticket what is inside the 
bundle. And finally, — 

** 4. Verification, which is the process of ascertaining 
whether in point of fact our anticipation is a correct 
one. 

* Lay Sermons, p. 83. 
u 



290 METHOD OF RECITATION 

" Such are the methods of all science whatsoever." 

Considering 3 and 4 as belonging to step 5, the 
essential aggreement of the preceding statements 
with this quotation is evident. It is well to ask what 
other method there is that could better be followed 
than this. 

II. Another law discussed especially in the first 
part of Chapter VI is commonly known as the law 
of apperception^ and may be stated in these words : 
New thoughts can be comprehended only by the help 
'^of old thoughts ; also, new emotions (and volitions) 
are dependent both in quality and in strength upon 
old emotions (and volitions). The same general 
thought is expressed by Dr. W. T. Harris as fol- 
lows : ^ — 

"Inasmuch as instruction is the leading of the 
ignorant into knowledge by translating the unknown 
into the known, there are two factors involved : {ci) the 
unknown subject; (^)the stock of knowledge already 
possessed by the pupil. The knowledge already 
possessed is the means by which the unknown can 
be grasped and retained. All learning is a trans- 
lating of an unknown into a known, just as the 
learning of a foreign language proceeds by trans- 
lating the unfamiliar words into familiar words, and 
thereby changing the strange into the familiar. This 
being so, unless constant reference is had by the 
teacher to the stock of familiar ideas belonging to 

1 Rosenkranz, " Philosophy of Education," p. 99. 



I 



LAWS OF TEACHING 29 1 

the pupil, there is imminent danger to instruction. 
It may pass off into the process of exchanging un- 
known words for unknown words — a movement 
entirely within the realm of the unfamiliar. Such 
a process is not instruction, whatever else it may be." 

III. The law of aim^ discussed in Chapter VI, is 
one practically agreed upon in daily life, but until 
recently it has not been dignified by teachers as a 
law affecting their instruction. Nevertheless, they 
are coming rapidly to agree that a definite and at- 
tractive aim is a condition of the most effective 
work of any kind, and hence that a clear aim should 
be daily fixed in each recitation as elsewhere. Upon 
this point Dr. Wilhelm Rein says : ^ — 

"The pupil should know beforehand what is com- 
ing if he is to bring all his powers to bear upon the 
work of learning ; and it is easier to call out all his 
effort if he knows beforehand what is to be gained. 
To conduct a child along an unknown road, toward 
an unknown object by means of questions and hints, 
the purpose of which he does not see, to lead him on 
imperceptibly to an unknown goal, has the disadvan- 
tage that it develops neither a spontaneous mental 
activity nor a clear insight into the subject. Having 
reached the end of such a line of thought, the pupil 
looks about himself bewildered. He cannot survey the 
road which he has just gone over, he does not com- 

1 " Theorie und Praxis des Volksschulunterrichts. Das erste Schul- 
jahr," p. 103. 



292 METHOD OF RECITATION 

prehend what has happened to him. He stands at 
the goal but does not see the relation that the result 
bears to the labor performed. He does not rise to 
that satisfactory mental activity and favorable disposi- 
tion of mind which are stimulated by the pursuit of 
a clearly set purpose." 

IV. The law of self -activity has been insisted upon 
by all great educators in modern times, particularly, 
however, by Froebel. It may be briefly stated thus : 
proper development is possible only through a high 
degree of self-activity. The law was discussed espe- 
cially in reference to the development method of teach- 
ing in the latter part of Chapter VI. Herbert 
Spencer's opinion is shown in the following quota- 
tion ^ — 

" In education the process of self-development 
should be encouraged to the fullest extent. Children 
should be led to make their own investigations and to 
draw their own inferences. They should be told as 
little as possible, and induced to discover as much as 
possible. Humanity has progressed solely by self- 
instruction, and that to achieve the best results each 
mind must progress somewhat after the same fashion, 
is continually proved by the marked success of self- 
made men." 

As indicated in connection with the discussion of the 
text-book method, there is abundant room for improve- 
ment in the application of this law. 

1 Herbert Spencer, Chapter II, in " Education." 



LAWS OF TEACHING 293 

V. The law of absorption and reflection was briefly 
discussed in the latter part of Chapter VI. Accord- 
ing to it, absorption in details and reflection in regard 
to them, regularly alternate in effective thinking. 
Herbart's own words are as follows : ^ — 

" Absorption and reflection, like a mental breathing, 
should continually alternate with each other. Absorp- 
tion takes place when ideas are brought to conscious- 
ness one after another with proper clearness and 
accuracy ; reflection takes place when they are col- 
lected and combined. The more fully and carefully 
these operations are provided for, the more effective 
proves the instruction." 

Any good instructor unconsciously applies this 
law when he stops to summarize and take a bird's-eye 
view of ground covered, ranking the facts according 
to their relative worth. 

VI. In Chapter VI the importance of physical 
action, or motor activity ^ was urged, and it was prac- 
tically declared to be a law that ideas must find 
expression, must be realized in action, before they can 
be conceived with the greatest clearness and accuracy. 
The kindergarten, especially, has always stood for 
this thought ; in its plan of study more time each day 
is devoted to carrying out ideas into action than to 
the presentation of the ideas themselves — a practice 
that has been by no means characteristic of instruction 
above the kindergarten. But in recent years several 

1 Herbart, " Paedagogische Schriften," I, p. 417. 



294 METHOD OF RECITATION 

distinguished psychologists and educators have de- 
clared themselves in favor of accepting this statement 
as a law, and its marked influence on education in the 
near future seems certain. 

VII-VIII. Other possible laws have been occasion- 
ally referred to in the preceding pages, but they are 
not here enumerated, either because of some doubt 
as to their universality, or because they are commonly 
thought of as affecting rather the selection and arrange- 
ment of subject-matter in studies than its method of 
presentation in the class room. Two of these are 
known as the laws of interest and of co7Telation. Ac- 
cording to the former a deep interest must be aroused 
in thoughts before they can exert the strongest in- 
fluence upon mental life and character ; according to 
the latter, the ultimate value of facts depends as well 
upon the number and closeness of relations into which 
they enter as upon the clearness and accuracy with 
which they are conceived. 

The law of interest expresses one great condition 
of effective instruction ; it makes a demand that the 
teaching accomplish a certain end, but does not itself 
give any hint as to how this end can be attained. It 
affects first of all the selection of subject-matter, but 
furnishes a daily test of method as well, by requiring 
that there be a healthy stimulation of the emotions as 
well as of the intellect in all instruction. The law of 
correlation was involved in the insistence (in Chapter 
VI) upon a close sequence in the facts of a lesson, in 



LAWS OF TEACHING 295 

the demand that they be arranged in a series or net- 
work, and that even the teacher's questions reveal a 
close connection. 

Both of these laws, therefore, have a direct influence 
upon method, although not limited to that field. 

Undoubtedly there are other laws of teaching be- 
sides the eight that are here mentioned, but these are 
at least some of the broadest and most important. 
The law of apperception alone includes and interprets 
most of the so-called principles of teaching that have 
often been mentioned in times past; for example, 
from the near to the remote ; from the simple to the 
complex ; from the easy to the difficult ; from the 
whole to the parts. These sayings are sometimes 
true, sometimes not. The law of apperception is 
deeper than they and shows where they are appli- 
cable. 

These eight laws should be guides to the teacher in 
the fullest sense. It would scarcely be possible to 
conduct a single thirty-minute recitation without ap- 
plying all of them several times, with the possible 
exception of the law of induction. 

Thus we see a most intimate connection between 
theory and practice when skilful instruction is im- 
parted. The fact that these are general laws and not 
specific devices prevents them from cramping the 
teacher's freedom and individuality, for a general law 
is always capable of infinite variety in application. 

To the extent that laws of instruction are developed 



296 METHOD OF RECITATION 

and brought into a system, there is a science of 
method; consequently these eight laws being as 
deep and broad as they are, and being intimately re- 
lated to one another, furnish a fair basis for the asser- 
tion that there is a scientific method of teaching. 



CHAPTER XIII 

APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 

The relation of the Formal Steps to text-books is 
important, for our text-books are a fair index of our 
meJ:hods of class-room work, and the standard set up 
and generally recognized as attainable is that of the 
better class of such books. So indispensable are 
they in our prevailing methods of instruction that any 
plan which ignores them will be regarded as vision- 
ary. It is, therefore, quite important to see clearly 
the relation of the formal steps to the use of text- 
books. 

First let us see the chief utility of these books, vaiueoftext 
They indicate what knowledge is regarded of most ^°o^s- 
value to children, in what order and connection it 
should be studied, and in a broad, yet definite way 
the method by which it shall be acquired. The value 
of text-books lies in their helpfulness to teachers and 
pupils Containing, as they often do, the results of 
ripest experience in able teachers, they embody such 
a selection and arrangement of leading topics, such a 
correct statement of truths as every teacher needs. 
They give to both instructor and pupil that syste- 
matic body of thought which forms the framework of 

297 



298 METHOD OF RECITATION 

each study. As the text-books, Uke arithmetic, are 
worked out by different teachers, gradually a con- 
sensus of opinion settles upon a definite body of 
knowledge, which becomes the recognized standard 
in that subject. 

The advantage of such well-estabhshed, authorita- 
tive text-books is seen, by contrast, in the absence of 
such standards. When the teacher has no such text- 
book, and no well-arranged body of knowledge of 
his own to take the place of it, he has no coherent 
method of procedure, and the work is a failure. 

Moreover, text-books are regarded not only as an 
indispensable help and guide for teachers, but also 
as the chief instrument by which pupils can be 
brought to their tasks, to the mastery of their own 
difficulties. For seat-work and for home-study the 
text-books are indispensable. In the life of most 
pupils the text-books play an important role. In the 
schools as they are, it is largely the business of 
teachers to assign lessons and to hear them recited, 
and of pupils to learn lessons and reproduce them. 
So universal is this dependence upon text-books that 
most of our teachers would be at a loss to know what 
to do without them. A very important fact to be 
remembered is that most of our teachers have had 
no special preparation for teaching. 

The text-books are essentially deductive and dog- 
matic in presenting truth ; the five formal steps are 
expressly inductive. The distinction between these 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 299 

two methods is not absolute, but relative, for text- 
books commonly have a sprinkling of inductive pro- 
cesses, while the formal steps at one point (the fifth 
step) lay great stress upon deductive- thinking. 

Moreover, the inductive method of acquiring knowl- 
edge is one that cannot be reduced easily to text- 
book form. We have, indeed, text-books in Latin, 
history, and language, which assume to follow an 
inductive process, yet it is a method which, while it 
can be illustrated, cannot be fully carried out in a 
text-book. Such a method worked out in full would 
make our text-books as big as dictionaries, and so the 
teacher, in most topics, must be left largely to his 
own resources in working it out. The Socratic Dia- 
logues of Plato, with their elaborate inductions, are 
examples of the detail with which a single truth is 
worked out. But the inductive method requires 
relatively few such elaborately treated subjects. It 
assumes that the teacher has originality and thinking 
power, and is not simply an instructor by rote or by 
imitation. 

It is, therefore, in the first, second, and third steps 
that the inductive treatment of topics is clearly 
distinguished from the usual dogmatic form of our 
text-books. In detail these characteristics of the in- 
ductive method may be briefly stated as follows : — 

I. It sifts out, brings together, and focusses upon 
the new topic those familiar experiences of the chil- 
dren which have significant relations to that topic. 



300 METHOD OF RECITATION 

2. It lays greater stress upon the clear and even 
graphic presentation of the concrete facts. It not 
only enlarges the descriptive detail upon any given 
object, but it multiplies examples of the same truth 
before leaping forward to general conclusions. The 
teacher needs a much larger accumulation of con- 
crete data than the book supplies, and a definite skill 
in handling it. 

3. The pupils are called upon to do more think- 
ing, to trace out and explain causal relations, to raise 
questions themselves and interpret facts by their rela- 
tions, as this larger material accumulates. 

4. Definite comparisons are set up and the points 
of resemblance and difference, upon which laws and 
classifications are based, are clearly made out. The 
outcome of such comparisons is an index finger point- 
ing toward a general truth. The text-books are 
chiefly blank on these pages. They, with overween- 
ing kindness, sum up the whole matter (often before 
there is much to be summed up in the minds of the 
children) and give the final result, but do not point 
out the long route travelled over to attain the result. 

5. The stimulus which keeps the children alert in 
this self-active thought movement is the aim set up, 
the question, whose answer is eagerly sought by the 
children. Every lesson should work toward the 
solution of some definite problem, and the concrete 
data are collected and examined for the purpose of 
finding this solution. 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 3OI 

The entire inductive process, with its pursuit of 
clear aims and movement toward general truths, sug- 
gests the notion of large lesson units, which are 
important enough to deserve a liberal treatment 
through all the essential steps of instruction. Here 
we are compelled to register a second strong contrast 
of the formal steps, as a method of instruction, to the 
method of the usual text-books. 

The subject-matter of each study, viewed from the 
standpoint of the formal steps, should consist of large 
lesson units or groupings of facts, in each of which 
groups some single idea dominates. This idea or 
central truth (embodied at first in some particular or 
concrete form) is to be worked out in a lesson unity 
to completeness and seen in sufficient variety of cases 
to warrant a general statement. In the discussion of 
types, we found striking illustrations of the collection 
of facts and of the centring of thought around a few 
of these important truths. In the text-books the 
general truths involved in these lesson unities are pres- 
ent, but their superior worth and rank are obscured 
in several ways. Side by side with them stand a 
multitude of other facts or truths of far less real 
value, but apparently of equal rank. These im- 
portant truths of the subject stand disguised as 
common soldiers when they ought to be uniformed 
as officers and moving at the head of whole bat- 
talions. In other words, the text-books distribute 
their force nearly equally over a very large area of 



302 METHOD OF RECITATION 

facts and truths without much regard to perspective 
or relative value of the facts presented, not centring 
sufficiently upon the more important ideas. 

The formal steps call for the exhaustive inductive 
treatment of a few important truths in any study. 
This inductive process of the five steps is far too 
elaborate a piece of method machinery with which to 
attack the multitude of truths, little and big, with 
which our text-books are crowded. If our wheat- 
fields were fenced off into a multitude of quarter-acre 
lots, it would hardly pay to apply the elaborate 
machinery of a reaper and self-binder to each one. 
The fields should be large enough to make the use of 
that kind of machinery most efficient ; and so in the 
studies. 

Having observed these points of contrast the prac- 
tical question is this : Can text-book methods of in- 
striiction be improved by modifying them in conformity 
to the principles of the formal steps f The answer is 
that they can be so improved. In reviewing the 
situation as stated above, we find that the primary 
difficulty, for which no single teacher is responsible, 
is the fact that the subject-matter is not arranged into 
suitable lesson unities. The number of topics is too 
great to admit of proper treatment. But for the 
thoughtful teacher there is a remedy for these faults 
which still admits of a liberal use of the text-books. 
The teacher needs to survey the text-book material 
judiciously, cull out the more important truths that 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 303 

deserve full treatment, and bring the secondary and 
minor facts into relation to these central points. If 
necessary, omit some of the less important topics and 
thus gain time to collect, from other sources, the con- 
crete examples needed for developing the leading 
general truths. One of the most important conclu- 
sions from our entire discussion is that any topic to be 
worked over by the formal steps must be important and 
typical enough to receive a full treatment leading up 
to the unfolding and application of a general truth. 

In' any case a clear grasp of the simple principles 
of the formal steps cannot fail to show the teacher 
how to put new life into text-book material. Any 
teacher who constantly draws from the children's 
home experience, from his own reading and larger 
observation, who sets up clear aims in the class room, 
and encourages children to the thoughtful working 
out of their own problems, is working both induc- 
tively and deductively. 

It is evident from the entire discussion that any 
sudden revolution of our methods of teaching by in- 
troducing systematically the principles of the induc- 
tive-deductive process is not looked for. It is a labor 
of educating teachers out of traditional into rational 
methods. Wherever teachers in training classes, 
in normal schools and in teachers' colleges, in insti- 
tutes, and in any meetings for careful discussion, are 
searching for the simple elements of method, the 
inductive process of developing general truths and 



304 METHOD OF RECITATION 

applying them will give them a clear insight into the 
fundamental law of good instruction. 

From the pupil's standpoint this sets up every- 
where the problem of self-realization. What he 
needs is a chance to think and apply the truths 
which make up the usual text-book, an opportunity 
to develop and organize them into a body of related 
knowledge. This is, in fact, exactly what is accom- 
plished in classes where a skilful teacher works in- 
ductively. The summaries and conclusions arrived 
at in class instruction, all systematically entered in 
the student's note-book, become a skeleton outline 
of the subject similar to that of a text-book. 

Text-books are always in place when used to re- 
view and summarize ideas that have been well de- 
veloped in instruction. 

The text-book is also indispensable as an outline 
of the subject taught. The children need such an 
outline, not only for the purpose of guiding them 
into definite and systematic courses, but also to help 
out the irregularities of school work. Pupils who are 
absent often need such a text-book to find out the 
work accomplished and as a means of recovering the 
ground lost. 
Are these In trying to lay down uniform principles of 

enough?^^^ method the question naturally arises whether there 
can be one method flexible enough to apply to all 
studies and to children of different ages. Teachers 
are prone to think that such a single method must 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 305 

produce a dull uniformity in the treatment of all 
studies. On the contrary, we claim that the laws 
of teaching embodied in the formal steps lead natu- 
rally to a great variety in the recitation work in 
different studies. Perhaps the chief reason for this 
is found in the diversity of general truths or laws 
worked out in arithmetic, history, geography, etc,, 
and in the wide variety of concrete materials out 
of which these truths are developed. An examina- 
tion of the processes of treating these contrasted 
topics in different studies will show how great is 
the variety in method coupled with uniformity in 
fundamental principles. 

In geography for example, in such topics as Min- 
neapolis as a trade centre, irrigation in the West, 
a coal mine, the Rhine River, cotton raising in the 
South, etc., the chief burden of work is met in the 
first and second steps, where each topic is fully dis- 
cussed and reproduced by the children. On the 
other hand, the general truth which is developed in 
the third and fourth steps can be derived quickly, 
requiring only a small portion, relatively, of the reci- 
tation time. The fifth step may be briefly handled 
or brought in by comparison in discussing later 
topics. 

This emphasis of the second step in geography 
calls for a definite kind of knowledge and skill. The 
teacher must know the full concrete details of his 
subject and be able to present them in a graphic 



306 METHOD OF RECITATION 

way. In primary, intermediate, and even in gram- 
mar grades this abundance of interesting material 
is peculiarly appropriate to the mental condition of 
the children and brings into full action the senses 
and the imagination. 

What has just been said of geography is largely 
true of history. In the history lessons of intermedi- 
ate and grammar grades there is great need for ful- 
ness of biographical particulars and much dramatic 
and picturesque narrative. In contrast with this re- 
quirement our text-books are filled up with general 
statements, important enough in themselves, but not 
understood for lack of background and detail color- 
ing. In history, therefore, as in geography, the for- 
mal steps point out the exact spot where the greatest 
improvement is now called for ; namely, in the largely 
increasing amount of personal, individual, narrative 
material, which should be introduced to give keener 
relish and clearer understanding of historical or geo- 
graphical truths. For younger children in their first 
approaches to history, simple and interesting biog- 
raphies are strikingly suited. The reasonableness of 
this demand for historical biographies is so generally 
felt that many of the recent books introductory to his- 
tory have made this idea the basis of their treatment. 

In history the time given to comparisons and to 
the formal statement of general truths is relatively 
brief, as in geography. This is illustrated in the 
lessons on King's Mountain, In Unity is Strength, 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 30/ 

The Settlement at Plymouth, Burgoyne's Invasion, 
The Invention of the Cotton Gin, etc. Indeed, it 
may be said that any geographical or historical topic 
which has been fully worked over in the first and 
second steps will lead up quickly to a clear under- 
standing of important general truths. No great 
amount of time, then, need be spent on the third 
or fourth steps. 

A third study which may be classed with those just 
mentioned is natural science. In this, also, the first 
and "second steps largely predominate and absorb 
most of the recitation time. Here, again, the general 
truths arrived at in the third and fourth steps may be 
briefly stated. But the process of treating a science 
topic in the first and second steps is quite distinct from 
that in geography and history. In natural science 
lessons the children are in the presence of the objects 
of study, and must learn to observe and scrutinize the 
facts. The skill required of the teacher is not that of 
graphic description or narrative, but that of guiding 
the children to a close observation, description, and 
inference. This is illustrated by the lessons on the 
milkweed butterfly, where the children observe the 
outdoor life of butterflies, collect specimens, examine, 
compare, and draw conclusions as to butterfly life. 

These three studies, therefore, — natural science, 
geography, and history, — while they agree in giving a 
strong emphasis to the second step, present a striking 
variety in the method of treatment suited to the 



308 METHOD OF RECITATION 

peculiar materials of each study. They harmonize 
also in abbreviating the third, fourth, and fifth steps ; 
and yet the general truths formulated and applied in 
the fourth and fifth steps are so widely divergent that 
a free inventiveness and originality on the teacher's 
part are always appropriate. The formal steps lay 
no clamp upon the teacher. 

In arithmetic our present methods of teaching 
place great emphasis upon the fourth and fifth steps, 
i.e. upon the statement and application of rules. 
Generally speaking, neither text-books nor teachers 
spend much time in the inductive solution of problems 
before stating the rule. Perhaps nine-tenths of the 
time of arithmetic recitations is consumed in learn- 
ing and applying the rules. In arithmetic we have, 
therefore, in present practice, the exact opposite of 
what we have described in geography, history, and 
natural science, and this is, in the main, defensible. 
Even in the proper teaching of arithmetic by inductive 
methods a much greater amount of time will be 
spent on the fourth and fifth steps than on the first 
and second. Our present practice in arithmetic 
neglects the inductive approaches to rules, as every 
experienced teacher knows. The formal steps call 
attention to the importance of inductive processes in 
working up to arithmetical rules. 

In the study of formal grammar in the seventh and 
eighth grades there is also a preponderance of the 
fourth and fifth steps. The amount of language 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 3O9 

material already collected in the experience of the 
children makes it possible to devote the major part of 
the pupil's time not to the acquisition of new indi- 
vidual facts in language, but to the collection and 
comparison of familiar facts, to the formulation of 
general truths and their application. In developing 
any language principle in the first and second steps 
it is necessary to bring together familiar language 
material, but there is no need for description or 
narrative such as is found in geography and history. 

Moreover, in both arithmetic and grammar we are 
able to work out a somewhat complete and systematic 
body of thought before completing the grammar 
school. But in geography, history, and natural sci- 
ence no such complete system is possible. As re- 
marked above, it is necessary in these studies to 
collect a large body of new and concrete data, and in 
this lies a large part of the labor and interest of the 
study. The general truths reached, while extremely 
important, are not so numerous nor so complete and 
systematic in statement and arrangement as in arith- 
metic and grammar. The fact that the definitions and 
rules of grammar and arithmetic can be definitely 
developed out of particular data, and formulated in logi- 
cal statements which can then be applied, makes the 
treatment of topics in these studies (arithmetic and 
grammar) almost perfect illustrations of the inductive- 
deductive method of instruction. 

In reading lessons a close analysis is necessary to 



3IO METHOD OF RECITATION 

show the definite application of the formal steps. 
Reading has two phases. On the one side is learning 
how to read, first by mastering the symbols in primary 
grades, and second by drill in easy, natural oral ex- 
pression in all the grades. On the other hand, reading 
means learning to appreciate and interpret the thought 
content of the lessons, the ideas, experiences, and 
truths embodied in the best reading matter. In short, 
reading may signify a mastery of symbols or a study 
of literature. 

The body of knowledge to be acquired in learning 
how to read appears unsystematic and must be care- 
fully sifted out by the teacher to get at the essential 
ideas. The work consists largely of learning a set of 
symbols and word forms and of associating with them 
the already familiar forms of oral language. It includes 
also the physical development and exercise of the 
vocal organs. One of the chief causes of poor read- 
ing is that teachers do not sift out the essential ideas 
in this somewhat miscellaneous body of exercises. 
While the general truths involved are somewhat 
fugitive and difficult of formulation, they should be 
as definitely grasped and stated as possible. 

There are certain rules for the spelling and pro- 
nunciation of words, for the distinct articulation of 
vowels and final consonants, for acquiring natural, 
conversational tones, for the expression of different 
feelings and emotions, for emphasis and apt expres- 
sion of thought. 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 3 I I 

Such general directions do not cover the whole 
ground, but they indicate what sort of definiteness 
should characterize the teacher's effort. They may 
be worked out inductively and applied in the class 
room. In order to show that the art of reading involves 
principles, it is only necessary to ask, What is the 
teacher's chief purpose in any given lesson ? e.g. 
distinct articulation or natural expression. If she has 
no such distinct purpose, her work, lacking aim, will 
be loose and indefinite, and specific progress will not 
be made. 

Looked at from the standpoint of the thought and 
culture material supplied in reading, there are many 
truths, historical, scientific, and social, which ought to 
be worked out in reading lessons. Illustrations of this 
embodiment of truths may be found in " The Vision 
of Sir Launfal," "The Great Stone Face," *'The 
Psalm of Life," and " Evangeline." 

Reading, in both its phases, greatly emphasizes 
the step of application. It is one of the most directly 
useful of all studies, first because the ability to read 
is applied so constantly in most kinds of instruction ; 
and second, because the reading of good books sup- 
plies one with the best outfit of social and culture 
ideals. The fifth step, therefore, in all reading 
exercises, is doubly important. To apply thoroughly 
the few rules and principles of oral reading is 
essential to good work, and bringing to bear the 
social ideals derived from reading upon the behavior 



312 METHOD OF RECITATION 

and upon all the social life of the school is vitally 
important. The demand for graphic, concrete 
illustrations in the second step, and for the apper- 
ceptive use of familiar experiences in the first step, 
is strongly felt in all good reading work. 

In this brief survey of the school studies we observe 
that the formal steps are capable of great variety of 
adjustment to the pecuHar subject-matter and needs 
of different studies. The widely divergent character 
of the general truths developed, and the still more 
divergent subject-matter from which they are drawn, 
are a complete test of the flexibility of any proposed 
principles of instruction. We find that these simple 
principles of induction and deduction possess ade- 
quate elasticity. They are not a dull, mechanical 
device for reducing all studies to a uniform method. 
On the contrary, they not only allow, but require, 
great flexibility and originality in the teacher. At 
the same time, there is a fundamental movement, 
which is the same in all the studies and is the basis 
of scientific method. But the point to be emphasized is 
that these principles not only lay requirements upon 
the teacher, but they are a great help to her ; they 
define the course so clearly, in a large way, as to be 
encouraging and inspiring. They bring definiteness 
into the field of teaching, where without them one 
is lost. They are indispensable as a guide to young 
teachers, and a strong corrective of poor methods in 
experienced ones. 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 313 

Looking abroad, beyond the range of common 
school studies, we may find in the kindergarten, in 
the high school and university, in Sunday-school and 
pulpit, many places which will still further test the 
flexibility of this method of instruction in its applica- 
tion to the needs of education. 

In this chapter we have considered mainly the 
varying application of the inductive and deductive 
processes to text-books and to the different studies. 
But the formal steps also involve other principles of 
very great importance. Closely linked with the 
inductive and deductive processes are the principles 
of apperception, of interest, of self-activity, of logical 
sequence in thinking, of aim-setting, of the selection 
of types and lesson unities. All these are involved 
in the application of the formal steps to each of the 
branches of study. We may say, in brief, that 
the inductive-deductive thought movement furnishes 
the opportunity for every one of these principles to be 
put into efficient operation. When properly arranged 
and adjusted to one another, these principles are not 
antagonistic, but work in harmony. The principle 
of apperception, for instance, applies to every lesson 
unity, no matter in what study, and the formal steps 
make definite provision for the exercise of this prin- 
ciple in each important topic studied. The other prin- 
ciples may be tested in the same way, in each study. 

Before any such plan of selecting and of treating 
topics can be generally accepted, it should be grounded 



this plan. 



314 METHOD OF RECITATION 

in psychology and its worth practically demonstrated 
to the satisfaction of teachers in a large variety of 
studies. Our present educational practice is based 
upon traditions and theories which partly support and 
partly antagonize the principles of the formal steps. 
We can well afford to examine and test them from 
both standpoints. 
Criticisms of Any well-maturcd plan based upon psychology and 
sound theory ought to be an ideal which our practice 
has only partially attained. Many of the best criti- 
cisms, therefore, will be found to be simply practical 
difficulties which inevitably arise in every effort to 
gain greater proficiency and skill. 

The first criticism, which the friends as well as the 
opponents of any plan of instruction must seriously 
consider, is found in the query, " Is it scientific ? " 
This question we have attempted to discuss at length 
in the earlier chapters. The psychology of the in- 
dividual and general notion, of percept and concept, 
was laid down in the earlier chapters as the scien- 
tific basis of the inductive movement in learning. If 
there is any one process in mental life upon which 
the psychologists, as scientific thinkers, are agreed, 
we take it to be this normal movement of the mind 
from particular to general, from percept to concept. 
Moreover, the great educational writers, some of 
them psychologists of the first rank, as Comenius, 
Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Spencer, have given 
an overwhelming emphasis to this one idea. 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 315 

It seems improbable that teachers will object to 
any of the fundamental principles, considered singly, 
such as sense perception, beginning with the individual 
and concrete, self-activity in acquiring and in using 
ideas, apperception, the inductive movement from 
particulars to generals through close observation and 
comparison, clear formulation and memorizing of the 
general truth, the deductive extension of truth acquired 
to new particulars, repeated applications till pro- 
ficiency in common use is gained. But there is a 
further question, whether we have rightly estimated 
these various principles according to their relative 
value, and have found out what are their true 
sequence and interdependence. This organization of 
essential principles into a compact plan, flexible 
enough to be applied to different studies, may well 
be subjected to close criticism. Even if such a plan 
is adapted to geography and history, has it equal 
value for mathematics, reading, and Latin ? 

In this critical discussion it is not difficult to keep 
in mind the three principal stages in the mental 
movement upon which the formal steps are based : 
(i) perception, or getting the knowledge of the 
individual ; (2) the inductive process up to the clear 
statement of the general truth ; (3) deduction, or the 
varied application of the truth to new data. Just to 
the extent to which we find this movement in learning 
to be general or universal, we have a scientific basis 
for method in instruction. 



3l6 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Natural reac But we naturally resist the proposition to bind our- 
law^.^^^^"^ selves down to any law of instruction. So strong is 
the instinct toward individual freedom that we will 
submit to no law unless it is very clear and very im- 
perative. Instead of finding this general law ac- 
cepted, we shall be met with the unfailing criticism 
that we are drifting into a hard and close routine. 
This criticism is based upon the assumption that the 
teacher is trying to make an artificial mould in which 
mental action is to run, rather than that the nature 
and constitution of the mind itself determine its mode 
of activity. The main question goes back to the 
previous query. Have we found the natural process } 
All will agree that the teacher cannot arbitrarily 
make the process, he can only help to guide the 
minds of children along the road of their best natu- 
ral free expression. 

We have a right to resist any arbitrary effort to 
impose upon us an artificial, dogmatic law of in- 
struction. But having rationally and experimen- 
tally worked our way to an understanding of the 
simple principles of teaching, it is true wisdom and 
self-mastery to constrain ourselves in practice to con- 
form to them. 

The freedom of the teacher consists not in disre- 
garding the law, but in finding it out and obeying it. 
If psychologists and teachers have been so for- 
tunate as to find the natural highways of human 
thought, all this crying out against mechanism and 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 317 

formalism is only so much railing at the laws of 
nature. The whole question of freedom and origi- 
nality in the teacher may be one of obeying the laws 
of nature, or of constantly blundering in the effort 
to be free and original. The teacher must have 
either an instinctive tact or a conscious insight into 
the simple laws of mental life and action, or this much- 
lauded freedom and originality is entirely eccentric 
and unreliable. That teacher will possess the great- 
est freedom, versatility, and power in instruction who 
is most skilful in obeying the law which regulates 
the child's thinking. We are constantly driven back, 
therefore, to the fundamental question : Are we mis- 
taken in our interpretation of the mental movement 
in children ? Have we wisely applied the principles 
of psychology to method in teaching } 

But even if our principles are correct and our in- 
terpretation of this general process well grounded, 
we are still exposed to the danger of countenancing 
a dii/l routine. The formal steps, like any other plan 
of recitation work, may be reduced to a mechanical 
form, destitute of life. There is no protection against 
this kind of routine except in spirited and earnest 
teachers. A well-grounded process in teaching will 
not save the teacher who lacks knowledge of his 
subject, who lacks insight and tact in managing 
children, or who is destitute of spirit and originality. 
In other words, the teacher must throw the whole 
strength of his personality into those channels which 



3l8 METHOD OF RECITATION 



a wise method has laid out, or else failure is sure. 
We can easily expect too much from formal princi- 
ples and plans of instruction. They are valuable as 
a means of economizing and of concentrating the 
teacher's energies within the best channels. The 
tacit assumption always is that a teacher pours his 
own versatile and vigorous spirit through these 
channels. Without this the form of instruction is 
like a dry mill-race. It may be admitted that an 
active-minded, independent teacher may feel ham- 
pered, for a time, in the attempt to apply the formal 
steps of instruction. But just as a young pianist 
gradually overcomes awkwardness and self-conscious- 
ness in following the directions dictated by the prin- 
ciples of music, so the teacher can expect to free 
himself gradually from the feeling of constraint, and 
in the easy use of these principles find a means of 
power. 

Another criticism against the method of instruc- 
tion under discussion is that it increases the load of 
the teacher^ while it reduces the amount of indepen- 
dent effort required of the pupil. This criticism, if true, 
strikes a fatal blow at the whole plan. There is, in- 
deed, an appearance of justice in this criticism. The 
teacher is required to show greater skill in presenting 
topics (in the second step), more power to illustrate 
and explain, more insight and tact in caUing out the 
experience and older knowledge of children (first and 
second steps), greater precision and aptness in ques- 



1 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 319 

tioning and in developing general truths (in second, 
third, and fourth steps), a more complete logical 
mastery of the principles of the subject taught, 
and their various applications. All these things 
are necessary to first-class teaching, and where the 
teacher has not yet acquired this sort of professional 
knowledge and skill, these requirements are indeed 
a burden. 

But most persons will acknowledge that these re- 
quirements are just. The teacher must assume the 
obRgation of a larger mastery of his subject and of a 
readier proficiency in class-room treatment. In this 
we are simply setting up a standard to which teachers 
are encouraged to rise, and which lays upon them 
the burden of professional equipment. 

But there is another side to this difficulty. That 
which at first glance seems only a heavy burden 
becomes later an inspiration and easement. Having 
once acquired professional knowledge and skill, the 
teacher will find his work becoming less mechanical 
and burdensome, more spirited and engrossing. The 
feeling of conscious power, based on previous success, 
becomes an exhilaration, and the teacher moves up 
to a larger freedom and capacity for instruction. In- 
stead of the cramping influence of a narrow routine, 
he feels the expansive energy of a clear and gener- 
ous purpose working in practical ways. The crit- 
icism against this so-called overburdening of the 
teacher loses its point when we consider that the out- 



320 METHOD OF RECITATION 

come of a mastery of these principles of teaching 
and of their skilful use means economy of effort and 
the inspiration of success. 

But the more important question is, What effect has 
this method upon children ; does it make thinkers and 
workers, or does it produce lassitude and easy-going 
habits of study ? 

It is sometimes supposed that the more skilful 
and efficient the teacher and the method, the less the 
pupils have to do. Just as if we had forgotten 
the underlying purpose of all study, to produce the 
greatest vigor of self-activity in the pupils. The 
essence of all good teaching is to stimulate thought- 
fulness and self-effort in the pupil. Even where the 
teacher in the second step presents or illustrates 
topics, his purpose is to awaken thought and to 
secure close attention, and to increase the labor of 
the pupil. 

Whatever is thus presented by the teacher must 
be appropriated and reproduced by the pupil. Much 
greater vigor of attention and effort can be secured 
under the eye of the strong teacher in the recitation 
than in isolated seat-work where the pupil may 
dawdle as much as he pleases. 

The recitation itself is one of the best places in 
which children can be trained into habits of keen and 
close attention. But so far as possible the habit there 
formed should be strengthened by similar exertions 
in seat-work and in home-study. The main question 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS $2 1 

is, Where and how can the teacher bring his person- 
ality to bear upon a child in such a way as to induce 
strong and vigorous mental action ? Our answer is 
that it depends upon the manner in which the teacher 
handles his subjects in the class room. If he knows 
how to interest and intensify intellectual and will 
power in the recitation, the seat-work and the home- 
study will fall into line. In other words, it is a ques- 
tion of method in the recitation. 

Some children will probably learn how to concen- 
trate their powers if left to themselves with books, 
but most pupils need the presence of the vigorous 
and incisive teacher to give them their tempo in 
intellectual action. 

Equally important with this habit of concentrating 
attention is the ability to think logically and indepen- 
dently. We want self-reliant thinkers. The Socratic 
method of discussion, while very difficult, is the only 
one that can lead to this result. 

Throughout the general inductive process (first, 
second, third, and fourth steps) a careful scrutiny 
will show that a child is constantly thrown back upon 
his own resources in observation (sense perception), 
in the resort to home experience and previous knowl- 
edge (apperception), in the careful statement (repro- 
duction) of all facts observed or presented in the 
class, in making comparisons, and in the statement 
of general truths which are formulated by the 
children themselves. The underlying purpose of all 



322 METHOD OF RECITATION 

this work is to arouse vigor of thought and self- 
exertion on the part of the pupils. 

It is an extremely superficial and perverted view of 
this process therefore to call it a method of making 
study merely easy, entertaining, and non-laborious to 
children. Mental effort should always be tense, not 
loose and flabby. It requires skilful teaching under 
any circumstances to produce this kind of sturdy, self- 
reliant effort. But we shall certainly not solve the 
problem by allowing the teacher to abdicate his posi- 
tion and his duty as a skilful leader in the class room 
and to roll the whole burden and responsibility upon 
the pupil by saying that he must learn the entire 
lesson before he comes to the class. 

The teacher is more than a simple taskmaster, and 
his function as a taskmaster should remain in the 
background till other and better means of stimulus 
fail. 

It is the business of the teacher to economize effort 
for the children as well as for himself ; to get at 
truth by the shortest route, along the line of least 
resistance. We need not be frightened by such a 
statement. There will be plenty of difflculties to call 
out their powers, numberless tasks in which they can 
work out their own salvation. One of the great 
problems in the use of coal and electricity is to reduce 
the waste, to economize by utilizing the highest per- 
centage of power. So in mental operations. 

There is a great folly in wasting a child's effort 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 323 

upon some problem which he is not ready for, when 
the teaching has been so blundering as to bring him 
against a difficulty he is not prepared to meet. One 
reason why we have to help children so much is be- 
cause of our unnatural methods of bringing them 
unprepared into difficulties. If we lead children along 
according to the natural law of thought, they will 
solve their own difficulties, become independent 
thinkers. If we ignore the laws of teaching, we have 
to step in frequently to extricate them from their 
di^culties. Ease of movement is a good thing. If 
all our school work is encumbered with the heavy drag 
of toilsome effort, i.e. of effort put forth merely to 
overcome needless friction, it becomes terribly depress- 
ing. 

One of the most serious obstacles in the way of in- 
troducing such a class-room method as we have 
proposed (including spirited oral work, presentation 
of topics by the teacher, and a Socratic mode of ques- 
tion, answer, and statement by children), is the fatal ten- 
dency, with many teachers, of allowing this process to 
degenerate into a waste of time, an aimless wander- 
ing and inadequate treatment of topics. The awkward 
and abortive development lessons too often observed, 
may easily lead us into a condemnation of inductive 
methods of teaching. 

The old-fashioned text-book work, in which children 
learn their lessons and recite them, is far better than 
this so-called development work. But there is some- 



324 METHOD OF RECITATION 

thing better than the old verbatim recitation, and it 
involves the higher power of skilful oral discussion of 
topics in the recitation. The fact that so many of us 
are clumsy in teaching inductively is no sufficient 
reason why we should not set up for professional at- 
tainment that method which has most highly recom- 
mended itself to the good sense of the best thinkers 
and teachers. We have many teachers to-day, 
especially in primary and intermediate grades, who 
are so expert in the oral treatment of topics that they 
could not be induced to return to a duller method. 
All the great writers on education, Comenius, Locke, 
Pestalozzi, Spencer, and Mann, have condemned the 
purely deductive method of imparting general truths 
dogmatically in elementary schools. In all schools and 
institutes, therefore, where teachers are in training, it 
is needful that inductive methods of study be cultivated, 
illustrated, and applied. 

Still another criticism has been raised, on the 
ground that the inductive methods of teaching do not 
lead to such a thoroughness and mastery of the subjects 
as deductive teaching and formal drills. One of the 
strong points in the education of the past, which has 
been chiefly deductive, was the thoroughness of its 
discipline by drills and repetitions. At least such 
has been the firm conviction of its friends. It is 
incumbent upon the inductive processes of teaching 
to show a superior kind of thoroughness, not only 
that looseness and shallowness are not the necessary 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 325 

fruitage of inductive methods, but that a thoughtful- 
ness, a careful assimilation of knowledge, an organic 
building-up of thought-masses, results, which gives 
the best sort of thoroughness and mastery of studies. 

In schools where the formal steps have been 
systematically worked out and applied, such thorough- 
ness has been one of the main results aimed at. It 
shows itself especially in the power to use what has 
been learned. In Chapter VII, where the acquisition 
of particular notions is treated, and in the chapter on 
the Application of General Notions, there was an 
unusual and varied emphasis of this perfect mastery. 
In addition to this we may evidence the fact that in 
closing up the work of the second and fourth steps, 
careful and thorough reproductions and drills are 
held to be an essential part of this plan of teaching. 
At these two stations we can afford to stop and sum- 
marize the results of study. These are the two points 
where a thorough knowledge of the individual notions 
(second step) and general notions (fourth step) is 
rendered indispensable. Careful repetitions and 
drills and systematic ordering of facts and principles 
are insured first by oral exercises in the class, and 
secondly by clear and logical outlines and full written 
statement of principles and rules, in a blank book 
carefully kept or in the text-book form. 

But in addition to these important stations on the 
recitation road specifically devoted to careful fixing 
of ideas, there are two other places in which the final 



326 METHOD OF RECITATION 

complete mastery of knowledge is tested ; namely, in 
the apperceptive use to which all our resources of 
knowledge and experience are put in the first step, 
and in the applications which are so completely 
worked out in the fifth step. 

The greatest difficulty which lies in the way of a 
psychological procedure in teaching, which is adapted 
to the needs of the children and to the material 
treated, is the whole traditional method of instruction 
now in vogue. No one teacher or group of teachers 
is responsible for this. The plan which commonly 
prevails of allowing children to prepare their lessons 
at their seats, and come to the recitation to recite, the 
prominence of the text-book with its brief statement 
of facts and principles and the rigid dependence of 
teacher and pupils upon it, the emphasis put upon 
testing and examining by teachers — all these things 
are matters of long-established custom, and are firmly 
rooted in the habits and convictions of our teachers 
of all grades of excellence. The plan of recitation 
which we propose runs counter, in important points, 
to these traditional methods. It calls for much 
greater mastery of the subject taught, a closer 
acquaintance with the children's experience, greater 
skill in instructing, and more shrewdness and ability 
in throwing the children upon their own resources 
and self-activity. It is a plan for developing greater 
tact, originality, and expert skill in every phase of 
instruction. For this reason it cannot be accepted 



APPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS 327 

at once by all teachers. It calls for too great a 
change from routine methods to methods based on 
clear insight and skilfully applied. 

A misconception that needs to be carefully guarded 
against is that every recitation should show the full 
treatment of a topic through the series of five steps. 
On the contrary, it is seldom that a single recitation 
will reveal the treatment of a subject in this complete 
series. Frequently it requires one or several recita- 
tions to handle merely the second step of a lesson 
unity. Sometimes the application of a principle (fifth 
step) will require the whole recitation period or more. 
The unit of instruction is not the time of a single 
recitation, but the central truth to be worked out and 
applied in a lesson unity. 

Another misconception is that any given method 
whole (or lesson unity) must te worked out com- 
pletely through the five steps before another method 
whole is taken up. On the contrary, it will often 
happen that one method unit will be carried through 
the first and second steps, and then dropped for 
a while, other unities being treated in the interval. 
Later on new examples or data illustrating the first 
unity come up for treatment, and comparisons are 
made with the earlier lesson unit, which lead on to 
the statement of a general truth and its further 
application. 

If, for example, the children have studied the 
upper Mississippi as a lumber stream, other topics. 



328 METHOD OF RECITATION 

as the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley, Niagara Falls, 
etc., intervening, they will later come upon the lum- 
ber streams of Maine, and make comparisons with 
the upper Mississippi as to the mode of collecting 
and distributing lumber, and draw a larger general 
truth from it than was possible with the Mississippi 
alone. 

In history, likewise, the children have studied the 
battle of Bennington long before they read of the 
battle of King's Mountain. Many other topics have 
come in between these two events. But when King's 
Mountain has been described, it is a fitting time to 
make the comparison with the battle of Bennington 
(third step), and lead on to a statement of that com- 
mon spirit which animated the patriots in both these 
battles (fourth step), while still later conflicts of the 
Revolution and of the Civil War may furnish the 
best applications of the same idea (fifth step). 

This conception of the free use of the formal steps, 
according to the necessities of the study, and of the 
particular topic under treatment, puts the teacher 
under no narrow compulsion and removes the neces- 
sity for cramping any lesson into an artificial method 
scheme. 



CHAPTER XIV 

LESSON PLANS 

The preceding text demands that every progres- 
sive teacher carefully prepare for the teaching of 
any topic. This requirement necessitates lesson 
plans of some sort. These should be written out 
in detail by the inexperienced teacher, as often as 
time and strength permit. It makes comparatively 
little difference, with the experienced teacher, 
whether they be written out or only thought out, 
provided a well-digested plan is in her mind before 
instruction begins. The best assurance, however, 
that a plan has been properly digested, is its existence 
on paper in proper form. Following are suggestions 
as to the principal features desirable in such a plan. 

(Full text of poem " Excelsior " at this point.) 

PLAN FOR TEACHING "EXCELSIOR" 

Age of pupils, 12-13 years Teacher's principal Aims — 
(6th year of school). a. Enjoyment of a well-known 

poem, hence increased love 
of literature. 
b. Appreciation of a certain 
moral idea, i.e. a lofty aim 
with unhesitating pursuit of 
same. 

329 



330 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



SUBJECT-MATTER 



Simple narrative taken literally. 
Meaning of difficult words 
and phrases. 

Leading facts in literal story. 



Interpretation. 



METHOD OF PRESENTATION 

Pupils' Aim — 
To learn what became of a 
young man who attempted 
to climb the Alps. 
Describe a lofty mountain. 
What are some of the 
dangers one might expect 
to meet in climbing it ? 
How do the monks come 
to the aid of mountain 
climbers ? 
Read the poem, stanza by 
stanza. 

What is meant by device, 
falchion, clarion, spectral 
glacier, awful avalanche, 
startled air ? 
Read the poem through care- 
fully a second time. De- 
scribe the region. Tell the 
story. 

Was the young man joyous 
or sad ? Read answer in 
words of author, (vv. 2, 
3,5.) Was he attractive 
or unattractive in appear- 
ance? (vv. 2, 5, 9.) 
What things tempted him 
to abandon his journey ? 
(vv. 3, 4, 5> 6.) 
Did he stop ? What be- 
came of him? 
Do you see any good reason why 
he should not have stopped? 
Was he, then, a foolish fellow, 
or a rash adventurer ? 



LESSON PLANS 



331 



SUBJECT-MATTER 

Longfellow calls the young man 
" beautiful," and in last two 
lines suggests his ascent to 
heaven. Story figurative. 

The mountain signifies a steep 
road, the route necessary for 
an unselfish life. The happy 
homes and the three persons 
signify types of temptation, or 
of overcautious advisers. 



Striking qualities of the young 
man are unselfishness, cour- 
age, determination, energy. 



All efficient persons, with high 
ideals, must show these same 
qualities. 



METHOD OF PRESENTATION 

What is Longfellow's opinion 
of him in the last verse ? 
How explain such ap- 
proval ? 
Since the story is not to be 
taken literally, let us see how 
it should be interpreted. 
What does the mountain sig- 
nify? The happy homes? 
The old man ? The 
maiden ? The peasant? 
Why is the device spoken of 
as strange ? The tongue, 
as unknown ? Meaning of 
excelsior? 
What are the striking qualities 
of the young man ? How 
shown ? How was a motto 
of value to him? Reason for 
frequent repetition of "Ex- 
celsior " ? 

Describe in full the kind of 
person the author seems to 
admire. 
Have you ever known or 
heard of such persons : 
Washington, Lincoln ? 
Other persons in history ? 
in present time? 
Do you think that it is neces- 
sary for every good person to 
exercise these same qualities ? 
Proof ? 
Does this poem encourage reck- 
lessness ? Proof ? At what 
times do we most need to 



332 



METHOD OF RECITATION 



SUBJECT-MATTER 



Style. 
Diction — beauty, force. 



Good oral reading. 



METHOD OF PRESENTATION 

recall it? What are the ad- 
vantages of possessing a high 
ideal? How is it helpful to 
have a motto ? 

Findsomehappily chosen words. 

Which stanzas show the char- 
acter of the youth most for- 
cibly in your opinion ? Which 
seem to you most attractive? 

What precautions, if any, would 
you suggest for the proper 
reading of the poem aloud? 
Read it aloud. 



I. The most apparent, and probably the most im- 
portant characteristic of the above plan is the complete 
separation of subject-matter from method ; the space on 
the left of a line drawn down the page is devoted solely 
to subject-matter, that on the right, solely to method. 

The primary reason for this complete separation of 
two very different kinds of matter is that it is neces- 
sary, in preparing a good plan, to think through 
subject-matter independently of method, and, indeed, 
before method is considered. It is very common for 
teachers to begin determining their method of pre- 
senting a topic before making sure that they know 
the facts which are to be taught. And when subject- 
matter and method thus become mixed, teachers are 
not easily made conscious of their ignorance. Their 
method, too, is then seriously affected, for one reason 
for much bad method is that the facts to be taught 



LESSON PLANS 333 

have not been clearly conceived. These statements 
apply as much to grade work as to more advanced 
instruction. Students are urged, therefore, to make 
themselves masters of their subject-matter, to practise 
outlining it for that purpose, before seriously consider- 
ing the manner of its presentation. 

An additional reason for this clear separation in 
the plan is the fact that a critic teacher or other 
supervisor can see at a glance the instructor's outline 
of fact and of method. 

2. The statements in the left-hand column are 
intended to constitute an outline of the facts to be 
presented, in close sequence^ and to convey ftdl mean- 
ing when read without reference to the right-hand 
column. The statements in the right-hand column 
are likewise intended to show the outline of method, 
in close sequence^ and to czxxy full meaning vihoxi read 
without reference to the left-hand column. 

But the matter on the two sides of the line are so 
placed on the page that the facts in the left will, so 
far as possible, have their method of presentation 
directly opposite to them on the right. 

3. The outline of method consists of the actually 
anticipated conversation, in outline, between teacher 
and pupils. The principal questions and statements 
of the teacher, and the replies from children, — 
when the latter seem necessary, which is seldom the 
case, — therefore appear here in the form of direct 
discourse. 



334 METHOD OF RECITATION 

The reason for this requirement is seen in the fact 
that such a conversation must actually take place 
during the recitation period, and this is the nearest 
equivalent to the real thing — as a preparation. To 
be sure, one cannot with certainty foresee the turns 
that a conversation may take ; but if he has thought 
through its most probable course with care, mean- 
while considering its possible deviations, he is far 
more a master of the situation than otherwise, far 
more ready for the unexpected. A carefully con- 
sidered plan is the means of securing freedom to fol- 
low any one of several courses ; in other words, to 
adapt one's self to the needs of pupils. 

This requirement applies more fully to "develop- 
ment lessons " than to recitations in which the time 
is occupied mainly with laboratory experiment; or 
translation ; or written work at the desk or at the 
board; or construction, as in manual training, fine 
art, domestic science and domestic art, where the 
pupils' plan has already been completed and further 
help from the teacher is individual. It applies still 
less to the supervision of study hours, library read- 
ings, etc. 

Nevertheless, a well-developed plan of procedure 
is desirable in all such cases, and there are always 
the two factors involved, namely, subject-matter^ in 
the form of facts that are to be put before the pupils 
collectively or individually, and method, or the man- 
ner of presenting these facts. Usually, too, if a 



LESSON PLANS 335 

teacher is properly acquainted with his subject and 
his pupils, he can anticipate what points will need 
particular attention, in what respects they will cause 
difficulty, and how these difficulties may best be met. 
For example, an instructor in composition in the 
fourth year of the elementary school, or in the high 
school, should foresee important difficulties to be 
encountered by his class and the remedies; and this 
is true even though they be writing on various topics. 
Close sequence in the subject-matter of such a plan 
and in steps of method is likely to be wanting, to 
be sure, and possibly other characteristics here sug- 
gested ; but conversation or directions will be called 
for, centring usually about certain few points, and to 
the extent that this is true, a plan is needed, approxi- 
mating the form here presented. 

4. Careful paragraphing of statements, questions, 
etc., with proper indentation to indicate subordinate 
relationships is as necessary here as elsewhere. In 
fact, it is particularly important that persons prepar- 
ing to teach, acquire the habit of grouping related 
thoughts and recognizing their relative subordination. 
Consequently this plan, both of subject-matter and 
method, attempts to indicate clearly, by the form on 
the page, what the chief topics are, and what matter 
is of minor importance. This is only a preparation 
for bringing the children to appreciate exactly the 
same kind of relationships, which is one of the im- 
portant objects of instruction. 



336 METHOD OF RECITATION 

Teachers allowed to use the terms ** preparation,'* 
"presentation," "application," etc., in their plans, 
have been found, very often, to paragraph on the 
basis of such headings. But these are psychological 
terms ; they are not to be heard in actual recitation, 
and have little to do with the paragraphing of the 
thought from the point of view of the child. They 
are, therefore, omitted in this plan. If, however, 
they sometimes seem necessary for the better com- 
prehension of the plan on the part of supervisors, 
they might be included, but enclosed in parentheses 
and given a subordinate place on the page. 

5. Some exception to the spirit of the last remarks 
is made in the plan in regard to the aim. The out- 
line of method includes, of course, the aim of the 
recitation as worded from the point of view of the 
children. But since the aim conceived from the teach- 
er's point of view is usually very different from the 
children's aim, and since each should be very clearly 
apprehended and carefully worded, the two are here 
included, with their distinctive names. 

6. Owing to the great emphasis laid by modern 
education on the arousing of interest through new 
and rich thought, there is a strong desire, especially 
among the more earnest teachers, for a constant 
advance in the instruction. On this account, at least 
partially, these teachers are prone to neglect detailed 
reviews^ summaries, and drills. Yet these are matters 
of the highest importance ; interest itself, in the long 



LESSON PLANS 33/ 

run, demands much time for them. For, if they are 
overlooked, children soon lose the outline of the 
subject-matter; their attempts to use facts recently 
taught lead to failure, then discouragement and loss 
of interest follow. 

It is important, therefore, that detailed reviews, 
summaries, and drills be included in the plans, being 
sometimes indicated by these terms in parentheses 
at the proper points, but, as a rule, by the exact 
words in which the teacher expects to call for such 
work. Much is involved in the last requirement. It 
is easy enough, of course, simply to ask some child to 
" review, " or " summarize, " certain matter, or to 
" repeat it over and over." But the pedagogical 
demand for live questions on the part of the teacher 
applies in full to calls for reviews, summaries, and 
drills. A progressive teacher will study to avoid 
the dead formula here, and require such work through 
thought-provoking questions and remarks. This is 
one of the points where a high degree of skill is pos- 
sible and where improvement is greatly needed. 
The plan for " Excelsior " calls for a large amount of 
review and for summaries, as can be seen by examina- 
tion of it. But the authors have tried to avoid " going 
out of their way " for such things. A large amount 
of review is really necessary in the proper advance 
of the thought itself, and this plan is an attempt to 
illustrate that fact. 

7. The amount of detail necessary for a plan is 



I ^^-^ ^^^ 



338 METHOD OF RECITATION 

probably reasonably approximated in that here pre- 
sented. Although very minor points are omitted, no 
large amount of writing is required. The subject- 
matter in this case, however, is contained in a poem ; 
when it is not found in any particular text, the columns 
for subject-matter will naturally need to be fuller. 

8. The teaching of " Excelsior " would probably oc- 
cupy not less than three or four recitation periods, but 
the plan shows no subdivisions with rQiQXQncQto particu- 
lar lessons. In our opinion, plans in general should 
be made out for a whole topic rather than for certain 
lessons. 

The amount of ground that is likely to be covered 
in any one period may be omitted from consideration, 
or, if attention is given to it, the subdivision can best 
take place after the plan for the entire topic has other- 
wise been completed. The reason for these suggestions 
is that it has usually been found to be a serious 
interruption to one's train of thought to be compelled, 
when preparing a plan, to give attention to suitable 
(twenty or thirty minute) stopping-places. It is 
irrelevant to the work in hand, and therefore an 
obstacle to connected thinking. 

After a topic covering a number of lessons has 
been prepared as suggested, shall the work for each 
day be written out in more detail as it is approached } 
This certainly is desirable, and it is the custom in 
some training schools for teachers. But since time 
and strength are limited, the authors are on the whole 






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